2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Study in terms of Physiological Anthropology on Psychosocial Stress, Stress Tolerance Capacity and Functional Potentiality of Humans
| Project/Area Number |
16207018
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
生理人類学
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| Research Institution | Kyushu University |
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Principal Investigator |
YAMAMOTO Kazuhiko Kyushu University, Institute of Health Science, Professor (60183688)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
IRIE Masahiro Kyushu University, Institute of Health Science, Associate Professor (00248593)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2004 – 2007
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| Keywords | Psychosocial stress / Stress tolerance capacity / IMPS / IMST / Stress management / Abdominal obesity / Insulin resistance / Metabolic syndrome |
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| Research Abstract |
The effort to alleviate psychosocial stress levels, if those levels are high, is of critical importance, for the promotion of a healthy life-style. However, there is currently no existing method which would enable us to evaluate psychosocial stress levels and subsequently figure out a way to alleviate those which are detrimentally high. Because of this logistical problem, it became apparent that the development of such an evaluation for the general population is not only needed but also necessary. We developed a 40-item inventory as a measure of psychosocial stress levels(IMPS), which tallies the amount of somatic symptoms, and psychological and behavioral changes that people experience under the pressures of psychosocial stress. It is important to note that under the same levels of psychosocial stress people react differently leading some to experience elevated levels of stress response while others experience low levels. This leads us to assume that stress tolerance capacity is the m
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ost important factor in how differences in stress responses are generated. We developed a 20-item inventory for the measurement of stress tolerance capacity (IMST). The aim of the present study was to examine the validity of IMPS as a scale for the measurement of psychosocial stress levels among the general population. It was found that an IMPS-measured stress score was not associated with the amount of urinary catecholamiries, metanephrines, cortisol, 17-OHCS, serotonin, testosterone and pregnanediol found among college students. Following these results, we investigated the relationship between IMPS-measured stress scores and biomedical parameters regarding health status among public school workers. It was found that IMPS-measured stress scores were positively associated with percentages of body fat, glycosylated hemoglobin and intraocular pressure. This suggests that the IMPS can be used as a scale to measure psychosocial stress among a seemingly healthy population. Furthermore, these stress measurements from both the IMPS and the IMST have given us a multifaceted view of the individual's stress patterns, allowing us to create stress-management programs. In the next step of stress research, we will evaluate the effectiveness of stress management programs for the lessening of psychosocial stress using the IMPS as a scale to measure psychosocial stress levels. The ultimate aim of our research is to create stress-management programs that are tailor-made for each particular case and dependent on the needs of the individual, each of whom exhibits his or her own specific symptoms of psychosocial stress. Less
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