Examining the Impact of Acute Exercise and Arousal Reappraisal on Stressor‐Evoked Psychological and Cardiovascular Responses

Q: What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: RCT. Population: Acute psychological stress in healthy young adults (n=238). Intervention: Arousal reappraisal (AR), acute HIIT cycling exercise (EX), or combined arousal reappraisal and acute exercise (AR + EX) vs. Control group (CTRL) watching a 25-minute neutral nature documentary without arousal reappraisal instructions. Primary outcome: Stressor-evoked cardiovascular responses (SBP, DBP, HR) and state psychological responses (perceived stress and physiological arousal intensity and interpretation) during a 10-minute speech stress task (F(3, 230) = 3.93, partial eta-squared = 0.05 (for perceived stress interpretation), p=0.009).

Q: What does this research mean for the field?

Arousal reappraisal promotes more positive interpretations of acute stress, but neither acute exercise nor arousal reappraisal attenuates stressor-evoked cardiovascular responses. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

Taryn E. Cook; Sarah E. Williams; Thomas A. Fergus; Annie T. Ginty

doi:10.1111/psyp.70353

June 28, 2026PsychophysiologyOpen Access

Examining the Impact of Acute Exercise and Arousal Reappraisal on Stressor‐Evoked Psychological and Cardiovascular Responses

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Share

Key result

Arousal reappraisal improves stress interpretation but fails to blunt stress-induced blood pressure responses.

F(3, 230) = 3.93, partial eta-squared = 0.05 (for perceived stress interpretation)
P=0.009
n=238

Figures

Why the study?

Extreme stressor-evoked psychophysiological responses are associated with adverse health outcomes, prompting evaluation of the individual and combined effects of exercise and arousal reappraisal.

Does acute high-intensity interval exercise, arousal reappraisal, or their combination improve stressor-evoked cardiovascular and psychological responses to an acute speech stressor in healthy young adults?

Key Points

To examine the separate and combined impacts of acute exercise and arousal reappraisal on psychological and cardiovascular responses to an acute psychological stressor.
Randomized experimental study of 238 participants assigned to four groups: control (CTRL), arousal reappraisal only (AR), exercise only (EX), or combined arousal reappraisal and exercise (AR + EX).
Participants completed baseline assessments, their assigned intervention, a recovery period, a second baseline, and an acute speech stressor task.
Cardiovascular measures (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate) and subjective psychological ratings (perceived stress intensity and interpretation, physiological arousal interpretation) were recorded.
There were no significant differences between groups in systolic blood pressure (p ≥ 0.135) or diastolic blood pressure (p ≥ 0.010, Bonferroni threshold 0.004) during the acute stress task.
Perceived stress intensity did not differ across groups (F(3, 230) = 0.27, p = 0.848), but the AR group interpreted their stress as significantly more facilitative than the EX group (p = 0.014).
Trait reappraisal significantly moderated physiological arousal interpretation (F(3, 226) = 3.42, p = 0.018), with higher trait reappraisal predicting more helpful views of arousal in the EX (p = 0.016) and AR + EX (p = 0.003) groups compared to CTRL.

Study Design

Type

RCT (n=238)

Randomization

Block design (blocks of 4) stratified by gender across four groups (CTRL, AR, EX, AR + EX)

Multicenter

No

Structured PICO

Does acute high-intensity interval exercise, arousal reappraisal, or their combination improve stressor-evoked cardiovascular and psychological responses to an acute speech stressor in healthy young adults?

P

Population

238 healthy young adults (mean age 18.93 years, 60.1% female) under age 40, non-pregnant and cleared for exercise, assessed during a single 2.5-hour laboratory visit.

I

Intervention

Assigned to one of three active groups during a 25-minute activity phase: (1) Arousal reappraisal only (AR; n=62): watched a 25-min neutral nature documentary and received arousal reappraisal instructions at 3 timepoints during the activity phase and immediately before the stress task; (2) Acute exercise only (EX; n=60): 25-min cycle ergometer protocol consisting of a 2-min warmup, 5-min submaximal test to reach ≥60% heart rate reserve (HRR), 1-min break, two 6-min bouts of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) alternating 30s sprints (at 60% HRR resistance, 80 RPM) and 30s recovery (50 RPM) separated by a 2-min break, and a 3-min cooldown; or (3) Combined arousal reappraisal and acute exercise (AR + EX; n=56): completed the 25-min HIIT cycling protocol plus arousal reappraisal instructions at the same 4 timepoints.

C

Comparator

Control group (CTRL; n=60): watched a 25-minute neutral nature documentary without arousal reappraisal instructions (all 4 groups subsequently watched a different neutral documentary during a 30-minute recovery phase before the stress task).

O

Outcome

Stressor-evoked cardiovascular responses (systolic blood pressure [SBP], diastolic blood pressure [DBP], and heart rate [HR]) and psychological responses (perceived stress intensity, perceived stress interpretation, perceived physiological arousal intensity, and perceived physiological arousal interpretation) during a 10-minute acute psychological speech stress task (5-min preparation and 5-min delivery).surrogate

Main Result

Effect estimate: F(3, 230) = 3.93, partial eta-squared = 0.05 (for perceived stress interpretation)

p-value: p=0.009

A single session of arousal reappraisal promotes more facilitative interpretations of acute psychological stress without altering stressor-evoked blood pressure reactivity, while acute HIIT exercise improves interpretations of physiological arousal only among individuals with high trait reappraisal.

Limitations

Single laboratory visit examining only one instance of acute exercise and/or arousal reappraisal rather than repeated training sessions
Healthy young adult university/community sample which may limit generalizability to clinical populations
Deviations from pre-registered analysis plan (only two of four state questionnaire timepoints were analyzed, and a subset of pre-registered variables was included)
Single laboratory visit evaluating only a single session of acute exercise and/or arousal reappraisal instructions
Sample restricted to generally healthy young adults rather than clinical populations
Analyses deviated slightly from the pre-registered plan (only 2 of 4 state questionnaire timepoints and a subset of pre-registered variables were analyzed)

Implication

Does not support acute exercise or reappraisal for blunting stressor-evoked blood pressure; extends evidence on reappraisal's selective psychological effects.

Abstract

Extreme stressor-evoked psychophysiological responses are associated with adverse health outcomes. The present study examined the individual and combined influence of exercise and arousal reappraisal on stressor-evoked psychophysiological responses. Participants (N = 238) were randomly assigned to one of four groups: control (CTRL), arousal reappraisal only (AR), exercise only (EX), or combined arousal reappraisal and exercise (AR + EX). After completing baseline 1, the assigned experimental condition, recovery, and baseline 2, participants underwent a speech task. Cardiovascular measures were obtained during baselines and the stress task, and state psychological measures were obtained after informed consent and after the stress task. Trait reappraisal was also measured. There were no group differences in stressor-evoked cardiovascular responses. However, despite similar stress intensity ratings across all groups, participants in the AR group interpreted their stress more positively. Additionally, moderation analyses demonstrated that individuals with higher trait reappraisal in the EX and AR + EX groups viewed their physiological arousal as more helpful than individuals in the CTRL group. Arousal reappraisal may improve interpretations of acute stress. Additionally, acute exercise may be most beneficial for reducing negative interpretations of perceived physiological arousal when trait reappraisal levels are high. Future research should explore whether repeated arousal reappraisal and exercise training may promote more adaptive stressor-evoked responses.

Discussion

No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.

Cite This Study

Cook et al. (2026) conducted an RCT in Acute psychological stress in healthy young adults (n=238). Arousal reappraisal (AR), acute HIIT cycling exercise (EX), or combined arousal reappraisal and acute exercise (AR + EX) vs. Control group (CTRL) watching a 25-minute neutral nature documentary without arousal reappraisal instructions was evaluated on Stressor-evoked cardiovascular responses (SBP, DBP, HR) and state psychological responses (perceived stress and physiological arousal intensity and interpretation) during a 10-minute speech stress task (F(3, 230) = 3.93, partial eta-squared = 0.05 (for perceived stress interpretation), p=0.009). Arousal reappraisal improved stressor-evoked stress interpretation (p=0.009), though neither acute exercise nor reappraisal attenuated blood pressure responses to stress (p>=0.135).

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a435c38759b888809a52a45 https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.70353

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Share

Examining the Impact of Acute Exercise and Arousal Reappraisal on Stressor‐Evoked Psychological and Cardiovascular Responses

Figures

Key Points

Study Design

Structured PICO

Main Result

Limitations

Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

Examining the Impact of Acute Exercise and Arousal Reappraisal on Stressor‐Evoked Psychological and Cardiovascular Responses

Figures

Key Points

Study Design

Structured PICO

Main Result

Limitations

Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

Keep reading

Keep reading