Sarah Elizabeth Williams

Social anxiety is marked by fear of evaluation, with fear of negative evaluation being its core defining diagnostic feature (Heimberg et al., 2010). Along with anticipatory anxiety and post-event p...

Extreme stressor‐evoked psychophysiological responses are associated with adverse health outcomes. The present study examined the individual and combined influence of exercise and arousal reappraisal on stressor‐evoked psychophysiological responses. Participants ( N = 238) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: control (CTRL), arousal reappraisal only (AR), exercise only (EX), or combined arousal reappraisal and exercise (AR + EX). After completing baseline 1, the assigned experimental condition, recovery, and baseline 2, participants underwent a speech task. Cardiovascular measures were obtained during baselines and the stress task, and state psychological measures were obtained after informed consent and after the stress task. Trait reappraisal was also measured. There were no group differences in stressor‐evoked cardiovascular responses. However, despite similar stress intensity ratings across all groups, participants in the AR group interpreted their stress more positively. Additionally, moderation analyses demonstrated that individuals with higher trait reappraisal in the EX and AR + EX groups viewed their physiological arousal as more helpful than individuals in the CTRL group. Arousal reappraisal may improve interpretations of acute stress. Additionally, acute exercise may be most beneficial for reducing negative interpretations of perceived physiological arousal when trait reappraisal levels are high. Future research should explore whether repeated arousal reappraisal and exercise training may promote more adaptive stressor‐evoked responses.

Imagery is a common technique used to regulate stress and its associated emotions. Although imagery ability is proposed to influence imagery's effectiveness and be associated with stress-related outcomes, research has yet to identify profiles of positive and negative imagery ability. To explore whether profiles of positive and negative imagery ability exist and evaluate their effects on stress-related outcomes. Two studies were conducted. A large cross-sectional study (N = 663; Study 1) employed multivariate cluster analysis to investigate imagery ability profiles and their associations with self-reported stress, anxiety, and depression. A follow-up experimental study (N = 271; Study 2) aimed to replicate these profiles and examine their effects on psychological responses to guided imagery designed to elicit challenge and threat appraisals. Three profiles were identified: Higher overall imagers, higher positive/lower negative imagers, and lower overall imagers. Higher positive/lower negative imagers demonstrated a capacity for stress regulation via lower perceived stress, anxiety, and depression, skillful utilization of positive imagery, and resilience to negative imagery. These findings could inform future studies and applied practice by guiding development of targeted interventions to enhance specific imagery abilities, thus improving general wellbeing and optimizing guided imagery for stress coping.

Mindfulness‐based interventions (MBIs) are increasingly employed to address mental health challenges in young people. Some forms of MBI additionally incorporate music within the intervention. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a range of MBIs delivered across four formats: quietnote in‐person, quietnote online, a curated Spotify mindfulness playlist, and mindfulness online via YouTube. Eighty‐three undergraduate psychology students completed pre‐ and postintervention assessments using validated self‐report measures for a range of factors including sleep quality, stress, depression, and anxiety. Results showed that all four interventions significantly improved sleep and anxiety. The in‐person and curated Spotify formats additionally led to significant reductions in depression and stress. Clinical difference analysis revealed that over 50% of participants in the in‐person and curated Spotify groups shifted below the clinical threshold for depression and anxiety. Between‐group comparisons found no statistically significant differences in outcome changes. These findings support the adaptability of mindfulness interventions and suggest that immersive or structured formats may yield stronger clinical effects.

The present series of studies aimed to develop and provide initial validation of the Ease of Imagery Questionnaire (EIQ)—a measure assessing ease of imaging different positive and negative imagery content reflective of valence and engaging or disengaging in adverse situations. Five studies were conducted to collectively examine the questionnaire’s factor structure and concurrent validity. Study 1 ( N = 336) and Study 2 ( N = 207) informed the development of 16 items of the EIQ, with a four-factor structure supported in Studies 3 ( N = 219), 4 ( N = 135), and 5 ( N = 184) using confirmatory factor analysis. Study 3 also supported concurrent validity with significant bivariate correlations ( p < .05) with the similar Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire subscales, while studies 4 and 5 demonstrated criterion validity in the EIQ’s prediction of challenge and threat appraisal tendencies, perceived stress, stress mindset, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Overall, the EIQ demonstrates a replicable four-factor structure and appears to assess ability to image content associated with positive and negative emotions as well as demanding stress-evoking situations.

A stress-is-enhancing mindset is associated with lower perceived stress and better coping. However, work examining the prospective associations of stress mindset on perceived traumatic stress symptoms during a stressful real-world life event is limited. The present prospective study explored whether stress-is-enhancing mindset measured before the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic was associated with later traumatic stress symptoms in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. University students (N = 179; 68% female; M_age = 19.31, SD = 0.79 years) completed the Stress Mindset Measure (SMM) prior to COVID-19 pandemic onset as part of a larger study. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic was completed 1 year into the pandemic. SMM negatively predicted the IES-R subscales intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal such that a more stress-is-enhancing mindset was associated with lower intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal following the onset of COVID-19. Results suggest a more positive stress mindset is associated with fewer traumatic stress symptoms following a traumatic life event. Altering stress mindset may be an avenue for future interventions to cope with stress.

Research suggests interventions such as education and imagery can elicit a greater stress-is-enhancing mindset. The present study examined the individual and combined effect of stress-is-enhancing education and/or imagery delivered virtually in altering stress mindset. Three 3-minute online video interventions: (1) education, (2) imagery, (3) education with imagery were compared to each other and a control comparison. Participants (N = 164; 103 = female; M_age = 20.03, SD = 1.39 years) completed the Stress Mindset Measure (SMM) before being randomly assigned to a group to watch a three-minute video and completing the SMM again. The 2-time × 4-group ANOVA showed a significant time effect, F(1, 158) = 50.45, p < .001, η_p² = .242, no group effect, F(3, 158) = 0.89, p = .449, η_p² = .017, and a significant time × group interaction, F(3, 158) = 4.48, p = .005, η_p²= .078. All three experimental groups reported greater stress-is-enhancing mindset post-intervention compared to pre-intervention. At post-intervention the education with imagery group had a significantly more stress-is-enhancing mindset compared to the control group. Results suggest that online stress mindset videos may be effective with a combined stress education and imagery intervention being most effective.

Cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress have been associated with cognitive function. However, previous work has assessed cardiovascular reactions and cognitive function in the laboratory at the same time. The present study examined the association between cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress in the laboratory and academic performance in final year high school students. Heart rate, blood pressure, stroke volume, and cardiac output reactions to an acute psychological stress task were measured in 131 participants during their final year of high school. Performance on high school A‐levels were obtained the following year. Higher heart rate and cardiac output reactivity were associated with better A‐level performance. These associations were still statistically significant after adjusting for a wide range of potentially confounding variables. The present results are consistent with a body of literature suggesting that higher heart rate reactions to acute psychological stress are associated with better cognitive performance across a variety of domains.

Mastery imagery (i.e., images of being in control and coping in difficult situations) is used to regulate anxiety. The ability to image this content is associated with trait confidence and anxiety, but research examining mastery imagery ability's association with confidence and anxiety in response to a stressful event is scant. The present study examined whether trait mastery imagery ability mediated the relationship between confidence and anxiety, and the subsequent associations on performance in response to an acute psychological stress. Participants (N= 130; 55% male;M_age= 19.94 years;SD= 1.07 years) completed assessments of mastery imagery ability and engaged in a standardized acute psychological stress task. Immediately prior to the task, confidence, cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity, and interpretation of anxiety symptoms regarding the task were assessed. Path analyses supported a model whereby mastery imagery ability mediated the relationship between confidence and cognitive and somatic anxiety interpretation. Greater mastery imagery ability and confidence were both directly associated with better performance on the stress task. Mastery imagery ability may help individuals experience more facilitative anxiety and perform better during stressful tasks. Improving mastery imagery ability by enhancing self-confidence may help individuals successfully cope with anxiety elicited during stressful situations.