The political is personal: The costs of daily politics

Author: Ford, Brett Q.; Feinberg, Matthew; Lassetter, Bethany; Thai, Sabrina; Gatchpazian, Arasteh Description: Politics and its controversies have permeated everyday life, but the daily impact of politics on the general public is largely unknown. Here, we apply an affective science framework to understand how the public experiences daily politics in a two-part examination. We first used longitudinal, daily diary methods to track two samples of U.S. participants as they experienced daily political events across 2 weeks (Study 1: N = 198, observations = 2,167) and 3 weeks (Study 2: N…

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Politics is making us sick: The negative impact of political engagement on public health during the Trump administration

Author: Smith, Kevin B. Description: Objectives: To quantify the effect of politics on the physical, psychological, and social health of American adults during the four-year span of the Trump administration. Methods: A previously validated politics and health scale was used to compare health markers in nationally representative surveys administered to separate samples in March 2017 (N = 800) and October 2020 (N = 700). Participants in the 2020 survey were re-sampled approximately two weeks after the 2020 election and health markers were compared to their pre-election baselines. Results: Large numbers…

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Adult age differences in the psychophysiological response to acute stress

Author: Mikneviciute, Greta; Pulopulos, Matias M.; Allaert, Jens; Armellini, Alexis; Rimmele, Ulrike; Kliegel, Matthias; Ballhausen, Nicola Description: Age-related differences in the psychophysiology of the acute stress response are poorly understood given the limited number of studies and the high heterogeneity of findings. The present study contributes by investigating age differences in both the psychological and physiological responses to acute stress in a sample of healthy younger (N=50; 18-30; Mage = 23.06; SD = 2.90) and older adults (N=50; 65-84; Mage = 71.12; SD = 5.02). Specifically, the effects of psychosocial…

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Puberty and adolescence as a time of vulnerability to stressors that alter neurobehavioral processes

Author: Holder, M.K.; Blaustein, J.D. Description: Puberty and adolescence are major life transitions during which an individual’s physiology and behavior changes from that of a juvenile to that of an adult. Here we review studies documenting the effects of stressors during pubertal and adolescent development on the adult brain and behavior. The experience of complex or compound stressors during puberty/adolescence generally increases stress reactivity, increases anxiety and depression, and decreases cognitive performance in adulthood. These behavioral changes correlate with decreased hippocampal volumes and alterations in neural plasticity. Moreover, stressful experiences…

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Translational developmental studies of stress on brain and behavior: implications for adolescent mental health and illness?

Author: Malter Cohen, M.; Tottenham, N.; Casey, B.J. Description: Adolescence is the transition from childhood to adulthood, with onset marked by puberty and the offset by relative independence from parents. Across species, it is a time of incredible change that carries increased risks and rewards. The ability of the individual to respond adequately to the mental, physical and emotional stresses of life during this time is a function of both their early environment and their present state. In this article, we focus on the effects that acute threat and chronic…

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Is the oxidative stress theory of aging dead?

Author: Perez, V.I.; Bokov, A.; Van Remmen, H.; Mele, J.; Ran, Q.; Ikeno, Y.; Richardson, A. Description: Currently, the oxidative stress (or free radical) theory of aging is the most popular explanation of how aging occurs at the molecular level. While data from studies in invertebrates (e.g., C. elegans and Drosophila) and rodents show a correlation between increased lifespan and resistance to oxidative stress (and in some cases reduced oxidative damage to macromolecules), direct evidence showing that alterations in oxidative damage/stress play a role in aging are limited to a…

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