Momentary anxiety and autonomic responses during everyday social interactions among patients with depression

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dc.contributor.authorWeiß, M.
dc.contributor.authorGutzeit, J.
dc.contributor.authorJachnik, A.
dc.contributor.authorLampe, E.C.
dc.contributor.authorRothbauer, F.
dc.contributor.authorGründahl, M.
dc.contributor.authorUnterecker, S.
dc.contributor.authorKittel-Schneider, Sarah
dc.contributor.authorHein, G.
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-26T10:50:05Z
dc.date.available2026-05-26T10:50:05Z
dc.date.issued2026-04-04
dc.description.abstractSocial interactions play a central role in regulating affect and physiological arousal, with familiar and supportive relationships often associated with reduced anxiety and adaptive autonomic responses. However, it remains unclear whether individuals with depression benefit similarly from these so-called social buffering effects in everyday life. The present study examined momentary anxiety and cardiovascular responses (heart rate [HR] and heart rate variability [HRV]) during real-life social interactions in patients suffering from depression (N = 57) and matched healthy controls (N = 57). Participants reported on the familiarity and the gender of social interaction partners and the interaction context across five days, while a subsample also wore ambulatory electrocardiogram sensors. Across the patient and control group, higher interaction partner familiarity was associated with reduced state anxiety. However, only controls reported lower social interaction anxiety with increasing familiarity, whereas this pattern was not observed in patients. State social interaction anxiety was higher in controls when they interacted with female interaction partners, while there were no differences for patients. Regarding autonomic responses, patients exhibited higher baseline and state HR and lower baseline and state HRV compared to controls, consistent with autonomic dysregulation. We also observed lower HRs in opposite-gender interactions among controls but not among patients. Overall, these findings suggest that familiar social interactions are associated with lower levels of general state anxiety in both patients with depression and healthy controls, whereas social interaction anxiety and autonomic responses appear to show weaker associations with familiarity or the gender of interaction partners in patients. This research offers insights into how everyday social environments might support emotion regulation in clinical populations.en
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.extent12
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleid234
dc.identifier.authororcidWeiß, M.
dc.identifier.authororcidGutzeit, J.
dc.identifier.authororcidJachnik, A.
dc.identifier.authororcidLampe, E.C.
dc.identifier.authororcidRothbauer, F.
dc.identifier.authororcidGründahl, M.
dc.identifier.authororcidUnterecker, S.
dc.identifier.authororcidKittel-Schneider, Sarah
dc.identifier.authororcidHein, G.
dc.identifier.citationWeiß, M, Gutzeit, J, Jachnik, A, Lampe, E C, Rothbauer, F, Gründahl, M, Unterecker, S, Kittel-Schneider, S & Hein, G 2026, 'Momentary anxiety and autonomic responses during everyday social interactions among patients with depression', Translational Psychiatry, vol. 16, no. 1, 234, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-026-03990-y
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41398-026-03990-y
dc.identifier.endpage12
dc.identifier.issn2158-3188
dc.identifier.issued1
dc.identifier.journaltitleTranslational Psychiatry
dc.identifier.otherRIS: urn:01F1851CB0A0DCF01278A2B54C8D353E
dc.identifier.startpage1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18886
dc.identifier.volume16
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer Nature
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105035846499
dc.relation.urihttps://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105035846499?origin=resultslist
dc.rights© 2026, the Author(s).
dc.rights.accessrightsopen access
dc.rights.licensenameAttribution 4.0 International
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.statusPeer reviewed
dc.subjectAdult
dc.subjectAnxiety
dc.subjectAutonomic nervous system
dc.subjectCase-control studies
dc.subjectDepression
dc.subjectFemale
dc.subjectHeart Rate
dc.subjectHumans
dc.subjectMale
dc.subjectMiddle aged
dc.subjectSocial interaction
dc.subject[APCMicrobiome]
dc.subject[Medicine]
dc.titleMomentary anxiety and autonomic responses during everyday social interactions among patients with depressionen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)
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