title: Cardiovascular Responses to Psychosocial Stress Reflect Motivation State in Adults Born at Extremely Low Birth Weight.
abstract: Background. Adults born extremely preterm appear to have more difficulty managing the stresses of early adulthood than their term-born peers. Objective. To examine the effects of being born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW; birth weight < 1000 g) versus at full term on cardiovascular responses to stress. Method. Cardiovascular responses were elicited during administration of a widely used laboratory stressor, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Results. Term-born adults exhibited a larger decrease in total peripheral resistance and larger increase in cardiac output for TSST performance, reflecting greater resilience, than did ELBW adults. Furthermore, in ELBW participants but not controls, cardiovascular responses were correlated with anxiety, suggesting that their responses reflected feelings of stress. Conclusions. Skills-training and practice with relevant stressors may be necessary to increase the personal resources of ELBW participants for managing stress as they transition to adulthood.
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Mathewson
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Riikka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pyhälä
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Petteri
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hovi
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Katri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Räikkönen
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Ryan J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Van Lieshout
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Boyle
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Saroj
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saigal
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Katherine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; Oulu University Central Hospital, Oulu, Finland; University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Eero
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kajantie
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Louis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Schmidt
keywords: Trier Social Stress Test; cardiac output; extremely low birth weight; motivation states; prematurity; total peripheral resistance