title: Effects of stress, depression, and their interaction on heart rate, skin conductance, finger temperature, and respiratory rate: sympathetic-parasympathetic hypothesis of stress and depression.
abstract: We examined effects of stress, depression, and their interaction on sympathetic-parasympathetic responses, including percentage heart rate (PHR), percentage skin conductance (PSC), percentage finger temperature (PTEMP), and percentage respiratory rate (PRESPR). Participants were categorized into normal, low-risk, and high-risk depression groups under stress or no-stress by measuring psychophysiological responses. Stress increased PHR and PSC and decreased PTEMP. Depression negatively correlated with PHR and PTEMP. PSC and PTEMP were significantly dependent on and positively correlated with depression. PTEMP was significantly affected by the stress and depression interaction. Stress affects sympathetic, rather than parasympathetic, activity. Depression and the interaction between stress and depression initially associated with the sympathetic division and are then correlated with parasympathetic activity. A sympathetic-parasympathetic hypothesis and its clinical implications are discussed.
authors: Department of Psychology, Fo Guang University, Taiwan.
authors: Hsiao-Pei
authors: HP
authors: Lin
authors: Hung-Yu
authors: HY
authors: Lin
authors: Wei-Lun
authors: WL
authors: Lin
authors: Andrew Chih-Wei
authors: AC
authors: Huang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D002681:China; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System; D011603:Psychophysiology; D056152:Respiratory Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult