Effects of stress intensity and expected duration of stress on the inhibition ability of individual responses to stress

Objective To investigate the effects of stress intensity and the expected duration of stress on the inhibition ability of individual responses to stress. Methods A total of 60 cases of hospitalized patients in respiratory department were selected in the study, including 31 male cases and 29 female cases. Incorporated patients were divided into the high-stress group and the low-stress group (30 cases in each group) according to whether the patient accepted a invasive examination or not. Then, within each group, patients were further randomly sub-divided into the acute expectation group and the chronic expectation group (15 cases in each group) in the form of a lottery. Detection risk disclosure was conducted at 2 hours and at 24 hours before the examination. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and stop-signal task were used to detect the level of psychological fear and the inhibition ability of individual responses to stress of each group following informing of the detection risk, and the comparative analysis was conducted afterwards. Results (1) The score of psychological fear in the high-stress group was significantly increased when compared to the low-stress group ((3.90±2.71) vs (0.80±1.24)), showing statistical difference (F(1, 58)=30.16, P 0.05); meanwhile, no statistical difference of the interaction between stress intensity and the expected duration of stress on the level of psychological fear (F(1, 58)=0.031, P>0.05). (2) As for stop-signal task, the signal execution error rate of the high-stress group was significantly increased than that in the low-stress group ((9.40±5.80)% vs (8.30±12.60)%), and the statistical difference was significant (P 0.05). Conclusion There is no interaction between the effect of the stress intensity and the expected duration of stress on the inhibition ability of individual responses to stress. The stress intensity is more important than the expected duration of stress to exert more important influence in the inhibition ability of individual responses to stress. Key words: Stress intensity; Expected duration of stress; Cognitive control; Response inhibition