Practising gratitude can help reduce stress, study finds

The study, published online in the January 2023 issue of the International Journal of Psychophysiology, reported a moderate link between state gratitude and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) response to a laboratory stress task. State gratitude predicted lower systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses during the entire stress-testing period.

Participants with a higher state of gratitude had lower systolic BP responses to stress during the task and recovery, implying that gratitude hastens recovery and reduces reactivity.

Previous studies have suggested that gratitude and affect balance are essential in stress buffering. However, little research has been done on the impact of gratitude and affect balance on cardiovascular recovery from acute psychological stress and whether affect balance moderates the association between gratitude and cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress.

Against the above background, Brian Leavy from Maynooth University in Kildare, Ireland, and colleagues aimed to assess the stress-buffering functions of state gratitude and affect balance.

Sixty-eight adults completed measures of state gratitude and negative and positive effects and completed a laboratory-based cardiovascular stress-testing protocol. This comprised an acclimatization period of 20 minutes, a 10-minute baseline, an 8-minute recovery period, and a 6-minute arithmetic stress task.

The study found that mixed-effects growth curve models were fit and state gratitude predicted lower systolic blood pressure responses during the entire stress-testing period. Affect balance was shown to moderate the association between state gratitude and diastolic blood pressure responses to stress, amplifying the effects of state gratitude.

"Our study found that state gratitude buffered the impact of induced stress on SBP, indicated by a 'flatter' curve in SBP (faster recovery and lower reactivity) at higher levels of state gratitude compared to moderate and low levels," the researchers wrote.

To conclude, state gratitude decreased the trajectory of the systolic BP stress responses concerning reactivity to stress and recovery from stress. People with a higher state of gratitude had lower SBP responses to stress during that task and recovery period, implying that gratitude hastens recovery and reduces reactivity.

"This provides support for gratitude's stress-buffering role, as these effects withstood adjustment for several factors," the team concluded.

Reference:

(2023). Gratitude, affect balance, and stress buffering: A growth curve examination of cardiovascular responses to a laboratory stress task. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 183, 103-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.11.013