Cultures under stress: A cross-national meta-analysis of cortisol responses to the Trier Social Stress Test and their association with anxiety-related value orientations and internalizing mental disorders

摘要

Acute cortisol changes are physiological indicators (i.e., biomarkers) of psychosocial stress that have been repeatedly assessed using standardized laboratory protocols like the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Despite this methodological standardization, however, cortisol stress responses vary considerably across different studies. Based on multilevel meta-analyses of 237 TSST studies (n = 8487 individuals), we demonstrate that similar to 25% of this variability is actually attributable to systematic differences between countries. Particularly North American and European studies show a remarkable effect disparity (d = 0.45 vs. d = 0.73, respectively).