This proposal is designed to investigate the myriad pathways through which life stress contributes to the cognitive, physical and mental health across the adult lifespan, and of the resilience mechanisms that may protect individuals from the ill-effects of exposure to adversity. We plan to collect in-person cognitive and health data from ## individuals participating in the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well-Being (NDHWB) who have at least 7 years of longitudinal questionnaire data and 4 bursts of 56-day daily diary data. A second objective is to add a laboratory-based experimental stress manipulation to pilot a) optimal methods to experimentally manipulate stress, b) the assessment of subsequent disruption to physiological systems affected by stress (e.g., cortisol, alpha amylase, heart rate, facial expressions), and c) the appraisal of coping resources that differentiate the regulation of stress response. We will capitalize on the unique scientific value of the NDHWB to pursue a broad agenda of research on risk and resilience across adulthood.
The overarching goals of this application are to comprehensively detail the types and qualities of life stress that may initiate and exacerbate the cascade of perceptual, emotional, and physiological responses that can lead to disorder and disease, and to examine resilience resources that protect individuals from detrimental effects of stress on cognitive functioning, physical health and psychological well-being. In addition, methods to manipulate stress in a laboratory situation will be piloted, along with the assessment of the consequent disruption to physiological systems affected by stress (e.g., cortisol, alpha amylase, heart rate, facial expressions) and the appraisal of coping resources that explain individual differences in the re-regulation of the stress response.
