ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R
主办:中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理科学进展 ›› 2021, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (8): 1358-1370.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2021.01358

• 研究构想 • 上一篇    下一篇

重复性急性应激对攻击行为的影响及调控机制

武丽丽1, 程刚2, 张大均3()   

  1. 1辽宁师范大学脑与认知神经科学研究中心, 大连 116029
    2贵州师范大学心理学院, 贵阳 550001
    3西南大学心理学部, 重庆 400715
  • 收稿日期:2020-12-27 发布日期:2021-06-25
  • 通讯作者: 张大均 E-mail:zhangdj@swu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金项目(32000774);辽宁省教育厅自然科学研究项目(LJ2020018);辽宁师范大学博士启动科研项目(BS2020L004)

The effect of repeated acute stress on aggressive behavior and its regulation mechanisms

WU Lili1, CHENG Gang2, ZHANG Dajun3()   

  1. 1Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian 116029, China
    2School of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, 550001, China
    3Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
  • Received:2020-12-27 Published:2021-06-25
  • Contact: ZHANG Dajun E-mail:zhangdj@swu.edu.cn

摘要:

关于急性应激对攻击行为的影响, 现有研究多集中于单次急性应激情境下。然而, 相比单次急性应激, 对重复暴露于同一应激源的研究更能反映人们在现实生活中经历的应激事件。与单次应激不同, 重复性急性应激与应激适应有关, 能够节省资源, 具有很强的进化和适应意义, 但目前关于重复性急性应激对攻击行为的影响却知之甚少。鉴于此, 研究运用事件电位相关技术、鼻喷催产素和催产素受体基因型分析方法, 探讨重复性急性应激对攻击行为的影响及内部机制, 并进一步探讨通过内部和外部调控重复性急性应激反应后攻击行为的变化。

关键词: 心理社会应激, 大学生, 重复性急性应激, 攻击行为

Abstract:

In the context of the effect of acute stress on aggressive behavior, most studies on stress responses involve exposing participants to novel, one-time stressors; however, people are constantly exposed to similar stressors in everyday life multiple times. Compared with the response to one-time exposure to stressors, the ability to adapt to repeated stress has greater evolutionary utility as it preserves resources by relieving the response to non-life-threatening stress; however, little is known about the effect of repeated acute stress on aggressive behavior.
In Study 1, we investigated the effect of repeated acute stress on aggressive behavior. Sixty healthy male college students were selected for this study. A modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups (TSST-G) was introduced as a standardized, economic, and efficient tool to simultaneously induce a psychobiological stress response in a group of subjects. All participants were exposed to the modified version of the TSST-G twice one week apart. The main characteristic of the stress response is the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic adrenomedullary (SAM) system. The HPA axis responses were assessed by measuring salivary cortisol levels. The assessment of the SAM stress system during the experiment was conducted by monitoring its correlates—heart rate (HR), and emotional responses were assessed by measuring state anxiety. Following the modified version of the TSST-G, the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP) was adopted to induce and measure aggression. Subsequently, according to the social information processing model (SIP), we explored the influence mechanism of repeated acute stress on aggressive behavior. After each of the modified version of the TSST-G, participants completed a dot-probe task and a single-target implicit association test (ST-IAT).
In Study 2, we further investigated the change in aggressive behavior after the regulation of repeated acute stress through internal channels. First, we investigated the change in aggressive behavior after regulating repeated acute stress by changing the frequency of repeated stress. Participants were exposed to the modified version of the TSST-G twice on consecutive afternoons. We then investigated the change in aggressive behavior after the regulation of repeated acute stress by reducing the intensity of repeated stress. The TSST-G control condition contains all factors except for the psychosocially stressful components—socio-evaluative threat and uncontrollability. Participants were exposed to the TSST-G control condition twice, at an interval of one week. Self-reported state anxiety, salivary cortisol levels, and heart rate were assessed during the protocol.
In Study 3, we further investigated the change in aggressive behavior after the regulation of repeated acute stress through external channels. Specifically, using a double-blind, placebo (PL)-controlled between-subjects design, we explored whether intranasal oxytocin (IN-OT) can accelerate the habituation of individuals to repeated stress, thereby reducing aggressive behavior. Participants either took a nasal spray containing oxytocin or a placebo spray. Approximately 40 minutes after OT or PL administration, the participants completed the modified version of the TSST-G. Following the modified version of the TSST-G, the TAP was adopted to induce and measure aggression. Self-reported state anxiety, salivary cortisol levels, and heart rate were assessed during the protocol. The oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genotype is an important factor in IN-OT signal transduction and is also an important reason for individual differences in the behavioral effects of IN-OT. Thus, we further investigated the moderating role of oxytocin receptor genotyping in this process. Specifically, four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in OXTR rs53576, rs237887, rs237897, and rs7632287 were tested.
These studies have great scientific and practical significance in providing further empirical evidence to support the phenomenon of HPA habituation and the “fight or flight” theory and reveal the effect of repeated stressors in everyday life on aggressive behavior and cognitive processing mechanisms. Additionally, the study of internal and external regulation will help accelerate an individual’s habituation to repeated stress and attenuate the HPA axis responses.

Key words: psychosocial stress, college students, repeated acute stress, aggressive behavior

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