Physiological Resonance in Empathic Stress: Insights from Nonlinear Dynamics of Heart Rate Variability

Estelle Blons, Laurent M. Arsac, Eric Grivel, Veronique Lespinet-Najib and Veronique Deschodt-Arsac
Additional contact information
Estelle Blons: Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Laboratoire IMS, UMR 5218 Talence, France
Laurent M. Arsac: Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Laboratoire IMS, UMR 5218 Talence, France
Eric Grivel: Bordeaux INP, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Laboratoire IMS, UMR 5218 Talence, France
Veronique Lespinet-Najib: Bordeaux INP, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Laboratoire IMS, UMR 5218 Talence, France
Veronique Deschodt-Arsac: Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Laboratoire IMS, UMR 5218 Talence, France

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: Because most humans live and work in populated environments, researchers recently took into account that people may not only experience first-hand stress, but also second-hand stress related to the ability to empathically share another person’s stress response. Recently, researchers have begun to more closely examine the existence of such empathic stress and highlighted the human propensity to physiologically resonate with the stress responses of others. As in case of first-hand stress, empathic stress could be deleterious for health if people experience exacerbated activation of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal and autonomic nervous systems. Thus, exploring empathic stress in an observer watching someone else experiencing stress is critical to gain a better understanding of physiological resonance and conduct strategies for health prevention. In the current study, we investigated the influence of empathic stress responses on heart rate variability (HRV) with a specific focus on nonlinear dynamics. Classic and nonlinear markers of HRV time series were computed in both targets and observers during a modified Trier social stress test (TSST). We capitalized on multiscale entropy, a reliable marker of complexity for depicting neurovisceral interactions (brain-to-heart and heart-to-brain) and their role in physiological resonance. State anxiety and affect were evaluated as well. While classic markers of HRV were not impacted by empathic stress, we showed that the complexity marker reflected the existence of empathic stress in observers. More specifically, a linear model highlighted a physiological resonance phenomenon. We conclude on the relevance of entropy in HRV dynamics, as a marker of complexity in neurovisceral interactions reflecting physiological resonance in empathic stress.

Keywords: empathic stress; resonance; heart rate variability; complexity; multiscale entropy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/2081/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/2081/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:2081-:d:503072

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().