Laboratory Stress Reactivity Diverges from Daily Life Stress Responses: Comparing the Trier Social Stress Test and Ambulatory Assessments

This work examines associations between physiological and subjective stress responses occurring in daily life and elicited by the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). We analyzed data from 80 participants who underwent both a laboratory-based TSST for groups (TSST-G) and a five-day ambulatory assessment with three beeps per day. Using linear multilevel models, we examined how mood and cortisol reactivity and recovery experienced in the TSST-G correspond to stressor-related responses in everyday situations. Results revealed that mood and salivary cortisol responses elicited by the TSST-G were not significantly associated with corresponding measures obtained in daily life. However, better recovery of positive mood following the TSST-G was linked to a stronger association between positive mood and recent stressors in daily life, suggesting that these associations might reflect aspects of stress recovery rather than immediate reactivity. In our study, indicators of stress reactivity and recovery obtained in the TSST-G diverge from corresponding indicators obtained via ambulatory assessments. This might indicate that the TSST-G may not effectively capture the full complexity of stress reactivity and recovery processes experienced in everyday situations. The study underscores the need for caution when extrapolating laboratory-based results to real-life contexts and calls for future research to further investigate daily life and laboratory associations of stress responses.