Individual differences in stress regulation: Moderators of stress exposure, reactivity, recovery, and restoration

Speaker: Paula G. Williams, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Utah

Abstract: Individuals vary greatly in the extent to which they are exposed to stress, the nature of their physiological and emotional responses to potentially stressful circumstances, the time it takes to recover from stressful events, and the extent to which there is adequate restoration during or following times of stress.  Each of these stress processes—exposure, reactivity, recovery, and restoration—is a potential pathway to poor health.  The current talk will present a model of individual differences in stress regulation, as well as recent findings from laboratory and naturalistic studies examining phenotypic and endophenotypic moderators of stress component.