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Embodying psychological thriving: physical thriving in response to stress - Thriving: Broadening the Paradigm Beyond Illness to Health

Journal of Social Issues, Summer, 1998 by Elissa S. Epel, Bruce S. McEwen, Jeannette R. Ickovics

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To view this relationship graphically across days, we examined, as an example, women in the highest and lowest tertiles on spiritual growth. As shown in Figure 4, there were large differences in reactivity over time between PTGI groups. Women highest on spiritual growth tended to have similar cortisol levels to those of women low on spiritual growth on day 1, when first exposed to the stressors. However, by days 2 and 3, these women adapted to the stress, whereas women low on these subscales remained high in cortisol reactivity.

Discussion

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Women who quickly adapted to the repeated laboratory stressors were more likely to report thriving in response to previous traumatic stress. Specifically, these women came away from their largest life trauma with a greater appreciation of life (e.g., appreciation of each day, changed priorities) and stronger religious faith. Their cortisol adaptation may reflect different psychological and/or physiological processes. They may have coped with the lab stressors more efficiently, reflecting more facile adaptation to life stressors in general. We could also speculate that these women may have experienced physiological eustress, or a toughening up from their past traumas.

These results offer preliminary support to the micro-level measure of cortisol habituation as an index of thriving. Cortisol habituation to repeated stressors may reflect more robust psychological adaptation. Physiologically, it may represent a tighter allostatic system and greater flexibility in the

hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis - greater ability to shift from arousal to baseline. The results underscore the importance of individual responses to life stressors in determining salutary physiological responses. Greater ability to predict individual responses to stress will greatly increase our understanding of both disease and robust health.

We must note that cortisol habituation to stress was related to only two of four psychological thriving subscales assessed, which increases the possibility that our findings were by chance. It is also possible that given the nature of the laboratory stressors - achievement tasks with somewhat uncontrollable outcomes - the relevant growth measures were these more positive global views of life (appreciating situations in life, placing control in a higher power) that one may take comfort in. Scoring high on spiritual growth represents one of the highest order constructs of posttraumatic growth. Greater spiritual belief may reflect successful resolution of past trauma and the paradox of gaining control over one's life by giving up control or handing it over to a higher power (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995, p. 38). In this way, subsequent life events may become more meaningful (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995) and less stressful, especially when they are uncontrollable.

These results call for replication with a sample more representative of the general population and with naturalistic stressors. Nevertheless, we present this study as an example of those needed to understand further how higher order psychological constructs may positively affect health. The study also serves as an example of ways to operationalize types of psychological and physical thriving.

Embodying psychological thriving: physical thriving in response to stress - Thriving: Broadening the Paradigm Beyond Illness to Health

Journal of Social Issues, Summer, 1998 by Elissa S. Epel, Bruce S. McEwen, Jeannette R. Ickovics

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