Ambulatory assessed implicit affect is associated with salivary cortisol

Area of Science:

• Psychoneuroendocrinology
• Health Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, indicated by cortisol, is linked to negative emotions and health.
• Traditional research overlooks unconscious affective processes influencing stress physiology.
• Implicit emotional processing may significantly impact somatic health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between implicit affect and negative memory bias with daily cortisol levels.
• To explore the role of unconscious emotional processing in stress physiology.
• To compare implicit versus explicit affect in relation to cortisol levels.

Main Methods:

• A 24-hour ambulatory study with 55 healthy participants.
• Hourly measurements of subjective stress, worries, and explicit/implicit affect.
• Saliva samples for cortisol analysis at fixed times and the cortisol awakening response.
• Implicit affect assessed via the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test.
• Implicit negative memory bias assessed using word fragment completion tasks.

Main Results:

• Implicit negative memory bias was associated with increased daytime cortisol levels.
• Implicit positive affect and, unexpectedly, implicit negative affect showed negative associations with cortisol.
• Higher implicit sadness on day 1 predicted a stronger cortisol awakening response on day 2.
• No significant associations were found between explicit affect and cortisol levels.

Conclusions:

• Implicit emotional processes, particularly negative memory bias, are linked to physiological stress responses (cortisol).
• Focusing solely on explicit emotions provides an incomplete picture of stress and health.
• Implicit measures offer valuable insights into the interplay between emotion, stress physiology, and long-term health outcomes.