Sigh rate during emotional transitions: More evidence for a sigh of relief.
Evidence suggests that sighs regulate stress and emotions, e.g. by facilitating relief. This study aimed to investigate sigh rates during relief. In addition, links between sighs, anxiety sensitivity and HPA-axis activity were explored. Healthy volunteers (N=29) were presented cues predicting the valence of subsequent stimuli. By sequencing cues that predicted pleasant or unpleasant stimuli with or without certainty, transitions to certain pleasantness (relief) or to certain unpleasantness (control) were created and compared to no transitions. Salivary cortisol, anxiety sensitivity and respiration were measured. Sigh frequency was significantly higher during relief than during control transitions and no transition states, and higher during control transitions than during no transition states. Sigh frequency increased with steeper cortisol declines for high anxiety sensitive persons. Results confirm a relationship between sighs and relief. In addition, results suggest that sigh frequency is importantly related to HPA-axis activity, particularly in high anxiety sensitive persons.
Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Research Group on Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: Elke.Vlemincx@kuleuven.be.
Elke
E
Vlemincx
Department of Informatics, Simulation and Modeling, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Research Group on Quantitative Psychology and Individual Differences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Michel
M
Meulders
Trauma, Stress and Anxiety Research Group, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
James L
JL
Abelson
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003463:Cues; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012119:Respiration; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
Anxiety sensitivity; Emotional transitions; Relief; Salivary cortisol; Sighing