The purpose of the present research was to determine whether dysfunctional attitudes, a cognitive attribute, predicted changes in catecholamine biochemistry. A cognitive task was used to induce stress in female subjects (n=21), and levels of plasma norepinephrine (NE) and homovanillic acid (HVA) were measured at three time points: at baseline (T1); immediately after stress exposure (T2); and 40 min later (T3). Dysfunctional attitudes were significantly and positively related to levels of plasma NE at T3, controlling for baseline levels. Dysfunctional attitudes were not significantly related to plasma HVA levels at any time point. Our findings provide initial support for the idea that dysfunctional attitudes, an attribute shown to play an important role in some forms of unipolar depression, predict stress-induced alterations in noradrenergic output.

It has been hypothesized that individuals who are high on the attribute of self-criticism are particularly vulnerable to failure stress. To test this hypothesis, we examined the relationship between self-criticism and changes in plasma homovanillic acid (HVA; the metabolite of dopamine) and emotion during exposure to an induced-failure task. Participants consisted of 21 women. Plasma HVA and emotion were assessed at three time points: baseline (T1), during stress exposure (T2), and 40 minutes after cessation of the stressor (T3). We found that self-criticism was significantly and positively related to changes in plasma HVA during stress exposure. In addition, the personality attribute was significantly and positively related to subjective ratings of stress and changes in scores on the Confusion-Bewilderment scale of the Profile of Mood States during the task. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report that self-criticism is related to stress-induced changes in biochemistry.

Naturalistic and laboratory stress has been shown to lead to alterations in plasma cortisol, norepinephrine (NE), and negative emotion, and it has been suggested that dysfunctional attitudes (i.e., rigid, distorted, peffectionistic cognitions) limit an individual's ability to respond to stress adaptively. Stress-induced alterations in plasma glucocorticoids are thought to buffer the effects of stress. The present study then, was designed to examine the relationship between dysfunctional attitudes, and stress-induced alterations in plasma cortisol, NE, and emotion. Subjects: 28 females were divided into 3 groups: controls (n-10); depression in remission subjects (n-9); and actively depressed subjects (n,,,9), ages ranged from 20 to 41 (mean, 27), all healthy and medication free for at least 2 weeks. Methods: Subjects completed the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS), re. ceived a physical examination and laboratory workup, and were diagnosed using the SCID. Subjects were then exposed to an induced-failure stressor. Blood samples and mood ratings were obtained at baseline, during stress exposure, and 40 minutes later. Plasma was analyzed for cortisol and NE by HPLC. Statistics: Change in plasma NE, conisol, and emotion were assessed using MANOVA. Relationships between the DAS and stress-induced changes in cortisol, NE, and emotion were assessed using partial correlations. Result: I) induced.failure stress led to a significant increase in both plasma NE and negative emotion during stress egposure. A significant decrease in cortisol was observed 40 minutes after egposure; 2) Dysfunctional attitudes were significantly and negatively correlated with plasma cortisol and significantly and positively correlated with negative emotion during stress exposure. Dysfunctional attitudes were significantly and positively correlated with plasma NE 40 minutes after stress exposure. The data support the concept that dysfunctional attitudes play a role in shaping stress-induced alterations in biochemistry and emotion.