title: Social stress increases cortisol and hampers attention in adolescents with excess weight.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To experimentally examine if adolescents with excess weight are more sensitive to social stress and hence more sensitive to harmful effects of stress in cognition.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted an experimental study in 84 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years old classified in two groups based on age adjusted Body Mass Index percentile: Normal weight (n=42) and Excess weight (n=42). Both groups were exposed to social stress as induced by the virtual reality version of the Trier Social Stress Task--participants were requested to give a public speech about positive and negative aspects of their personalities in front of a virtual audience. The outcome measures were salivary cortisol levels and performance in cognitive tests before and after the social stressor. Cognitive tests included the CANTAB Rapid Visual Processing Test (measuring attention response latency and discriminability) and the Iowa Gambling Task (measuring decision-making).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adolescents with excess weight compared to healthy weight controls displayed increased cortisol response and less improvement of attentional performance after the social stressor. Decision-making performance decreased after the social stressor in both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescents who are overweight or obese have increased sensitivity to social stress, which detrimentally impacts attentional skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience F. Oloriz, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain; School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Verdejo-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience F. Oloriz, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moreno-Padilla
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: M Carmen
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Garcia-Rios
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience F. Oloriz, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lopez-Torrecillas
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience F. Oloriz, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delgado-Rico
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Rio-Valle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Universidad de Jaen, Jaen, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Serrano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology; D000067074:Peer Influence; D013315:Stress, Psychological
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone