Acute stressors and chronic stress at Three Mile Island

The relationship between acute and chronic stress was examined by studying the effects of an acute stressor on ongoing stress response. A group of people living near Three Mile Island were compared with a group of control subjects living 80 miles away on measures of stress 2 months before and 1 month after restart of the undamaged nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island. Consistent with earlier findings, people living near Three Mile Island, as a group, exhibited more evidence of stress before the restart than did controls, including greater symptom reporting, poorer task performances, and higher blood pressure and urinary catecholamine levels. The restart did not heighten stress responding in the Three Mile Island group; after the restart, symptom reporting decreased slightly but blood pressure, catecholamine levels, and task performance were comparable to prerestart levels. The implications of these findings are discussed.