A large amount of literature has demonstrated that Perceived Criticism (PC)—that is, how critical a person believes a given relative is of him or her—is associated with negative clinical outcomes in a broad range of psychiatric disorders (e.g., relapse or recurrence of symptoms). A possible mechanism behind the predictive value of PC might be its association with the stress regulation process. This is the first study to investigate differences in the psychophysiological response to a social stress task in young women (mean age = 21.66, SD = 4.33) with high (n = 40) and low (n = 39) PC. The physiological response was investigated by measuring two markers of sympathetic activity mediated by acetylcholine (skin conductance levels; SCL) and adrenaline (pre-ejection period; PEP) levels, respectively, and one marker of the vagally-mediated parasympathetic system (heart rate variability; HRV). Moreover, we investigated the anticipation and perception of social threat, in the form of criticism, during the stressor. No differences in HRV and SCL were observed. However, individuals high in PC mobilized fewer cardiovascular resources to deal with the stressor, reflected in an attenuated beta-adrenergic response (i.e., lower PEP response). Women high in PC also expected and perceived more criticism during the stress task. Together, our results indicate that women high in PC make heightened social threat anticipation and interpretations, and they tend to engage in less active coping when exposed to socially evaluated stressful events. Our findings indicate that PC is associated with underlying stress-related psychobiological vulnerabilities that may contribute to its association with negative clinical outcomes.

Stress is a major public health problem calling for scalable interventions. Physical activity (PA) and slow-paced breathing (SPB) can reduce stress, both by modulating cardiac parasympathetic activity. Given their shared target but different mechanisms, combining SPB and PA could enhance their stress-reducing effects. This study therefore explores whether SPB (vs control breathing at a faster rate) after PA increases the impact of PA on psychophysiological indices of emotional reactivity and psychosocial stress reactivity and recovery. In a crossover randomized design, 77 healthy volunteers completed twice a baseline, a bout of PA (at a personalized intensity), 3 × 5 min of breathing (SPB at 5,5 or control breathing at 15 breaths per minute), an emotional reactivity task with negative versus neutral images, a psychosocial stress task and a recovery phase. We measured psychophysiological indices of stress (i.e., heart rate, vmHRV, skin conductance, blood pressure, pupil dilation as well as self-reported stress and mood indices, rumination and coping strategy). Compared to control breathing, SPB decreased worry and made the difference between cardiac reactivities to negative and neutral images lower (as measured through interbeat intervals [IBI]). No effects on other psychophysiological indices of stress were found. Our results are the first to emphasize the potential of combining PA and SPB to reduce worrying and attenuated cardiovascular reactivity to emotional valence. However, the lack of effects on other stress indices indicates the need for future research to explore its broader applicability as a stress management technique.