Endocrine responses and examination anxiety
- PMID: 3756284
- DOI: 10.1016/0301-0511(86)90027-x
Endocrine responses and examination anxiety
Abstract
Endocrine and psychological function (measuring both affect and attitudes to study) were studied in 38 male medical students 4 weeks and 1-2 h before a major examination. Anxiety (or tension) and emotionality increased just before the examination, as did the 'denial' subscale of a 'coping' questionnaire. Serum cortisol and prolactin increased; serum testosterone and LH were unchanged. Both urinary noradrenaline and adrenaline were elevated. Increased cortisol correlated with increased prolactin across subjects; so, too, did levels of urinary noradrenaline and adrenaline, but the two sets of endocrine responses were not correlated with each other. Several of the trait scales predicted the endocrine response to the examination. The 'lie' scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire correlated negatively with changes in both cortisol and prolactin, as did 'debilitating' anxiety, as defined by the Alpert-Haber scale. However, although there were no significant correlations between changes in hormone levels and those in any of the state scales, there was some relation between absolute hormone levels on the day of the examination. Measures of academic strategies or psychological responses to examinations do not predict the nature of the considerable hormonal response which occurs in this homogeneous set of high-achieving students.
Similar articles
-
Endocrine effects of examination stress.Clin Sci (Lond). 1988 Mar;74(3):255-9. doi: 10.1042/cs0740255. Clin Sci (Lond). 1988. PMID: 3126015
-
Endocrine, psychological and genital response to sexual arousal in men.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1987;12(2):149-58. doi: 10.1016/0306-4530(87)90045-x. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1987. PMID: 3602262
-
Endocrine response patterns and psychological correlates.J Psychosom Res. 1982;26(2):123-31. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(82)90030-7. J Psychosom Res. 1982. PMID: 7077544
-
Dissociation between emotional and endocrine responses preceding an academic examination in male medical students.J Endocrinol. 1985 Nov;107(2):163-70. doi: 10.1677/joe.0.1070163. J Endocrinol. 1985. PMID: 4067474
-
Endocrinology of male infertility.Br Med Bull. 1979 May;35(2):187-92. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a071568. Br Med Bull. 1979. PMID: 387166 Review.
Cited by
-
Unveiling gender differences in psychophysiological dynamics: support for a two-dimensional autonomic space approach.Front Hum Neurosci. 2024 Mar 13;18:1363891. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1363891. eCollection 2024. Front Hum Neurosci. 2024. PMID: 38545517 Free PMC article.
-
State Anxiety Is Related to Cortisol Response During Cognitive Testing for Older Adults.Gerontol Geriatr Med. 2020 Apr 2;6:2333721420914776. doi: 10.1177/2333721420914776. eCollection 2020 Jan-Dec. Gerontol Geriatr Med. 2020. PMID: 32284956 Free PMC article.
-
Physiological, biochemical and subjective parameters in anxiety patients with panic disorder during stress exposure as compared with healthy controls.Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1997;247(5):264-74. doi: 10.1007/BF02900305. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 1997. PMID: 9444496 Clinical Trial.