Association between sense of coherence and phasic heart rate variability under psychosocial stress conditions

Abstract

The concept of sense of coherence (SOC) is fundamental in salutogenesis, with an enhanced SOC being conducive to health promotion. Nonetheless, the precise physiological mechanisms through which SOC responds to stress and influences health remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to compare the effects of varying SOC levels on the autonomic nervous system during psychosocial stress conditions, employing phasic heart rate variability (HRV) as a measure. Thirty healthy volunteers participated in the study and were categorized into low- and high-SOC groups according to their SOC scores. A speech preparation task served as the acute stressor, with HRV recorded for physiological assessment. HRV data were analyzed across three phases—baseline, stress, and recovery. Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed a statistically significant distinction in the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) values between the low- and high-SOC groups under stress conditions (p = 0.026). In particular, the high-SOC group exhibited a significant increase in RMSSD values during the transition from the stress to recovery phase (p = 0.020), whereas the low-SOC group displayed no significant change in RMSSD values (p = 0.844). These findings suggest that individuals with low SOC may encounter challenges in effectively regulating the autonomic nervous system, potentially leading to slower recovery from stress.