- Stress+ – Towards an Open-Source Web Application for the Remote Induction of Acute Psychosocial Stress

Richer R, Varkentin E, Kurmanbekova K, Müller V, Abel L, Ringgold V, Küderle A, Brich I, Rohleder N, Eskofier B (2024)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

Psychoneuroendocrinology Elsevier

Book Volume: 160

Pages Range: 106870

Article Number: 106870

DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106870

Abstract

Background

It has been proposed that repeated exposure to acute stressors and the associated recurrent stimulation of stress pathways over a prolonged period of time promotes the transition from acute to chronic stress. Unfortunately, established laboratory stress protocols for acute psychosocial stress induction are only suitable for repeated use to a limited extent due to high demand for personnel and other resources, creating the need for novel stress protocols that can be conducted remotely and at a larger scale.

Methods

We introduce stress+, a browser-based web application for remote and repeated acute stress induction. stress+ offers a collection of screens and overlays which can be arranged into custom stress pipelines. This setup allows recreation and recombination of several components of established stress protocols to remotely induce acute psychosocial stress.

Results

A proof-of-concept study (N=403, 46.8±22.7 years, 55.3% women) revealed that the group exposed to stress via stress+ (N=183) showed a significantly higher perceived stress response compared to a control group (N=220), e.g., PANAS-Negative Affect (F[1, 401] = 68.14, p < 0.001, np2 = 0.15) and Visual Analogue Scale (F[1, 401] = 108.45, p < 0.001, np2 = 0.21).

Conclusion

While a validation of stress+ with biomarkers is still pending, our initial results suggest a successful remote stress induction that is comparable, or even superior, to previous work. By open-sourcing the stress+ framework, we encourage researchers to create their own acute stress induction pipelines and share their results with the community.

Authors with CRIS profile

Robert Richer Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab Victoria Müller Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab Luca Abel Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab Veronika Ringgold Lehrstuhl für Gesundheitspsychologie Arne Küderle Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab Nicolas Rohleder Lehrstuhl für Gesundheitspsychologie Björn Eskofier Machine Learning and Data Analytics Lab

Additional Organisation(s)

Sonderforschungsbereich 1483/1 Empathokinästhetische Sensorik – Sensortechniken und Datenanalyseverfahren zur empathokinästhetischen Modellbildung und Zustandsbestimmung (EmpkinS)

Involved external institutions

Stiftung „Medien in der Bildung“ SbR / Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien

Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Richer, R., Varkentin, E., Kurmanbekova, K., Müller, V., Abel, L., Ringgold, V.,... Eskofier, B. (2024). - Stress+ – Towards an Open-Source Web Application for the Remote Induction of Acute Psychosocial Stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 160, 106870. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106870

MLA:

Richer, Robert, et al. "- Stress+ – Towards an Open-Source Web Application for the Remote Induction of Acute Psychosocial Stress." Psychoneuroendocrinology 160 (2024): 106870.

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