What does this research mean for the field?

Among youth in positive youth development programs, physiological and perceived stress follow distinct, person-specific trajectories over time and do not predict one another. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine weekly within-person dynamics and directional relationships between physiological stress and perceived stress among youth enrolled in a positive youth development program.

September 3, 2026Applied Psychology Health and Well-BeingOpen Access

Within‐person dynamics of physiological and perceived stress among South African youth in positive youth development programs

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Authors

RARoya Abbasi‐Asl NKNatasha Keces RLRichard M. Lerner

Discussion

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Overview

Longitudinal study reveals declining physiological stress alongside stable perceived stress in youth, indicating biological and psychological stress follow distinct trajectories.

Key Points

To examine weekly within-person dynamics and directional relationships between physiological stress and perceived stress among youth enrolled in a positive youth development program.
Conducted a 16-week intensive longitudinal study of 35 rural South African youth (mean age = 11.6 years, SD = 0.62) participating in a positive youth development program.
Collected weekly salivary cortisol samples alongside brief self-report surveys to assess physiological and perceived stress, respectively.
Analyzed temporal trends, autoregressive patterns, and cross-lagged relations using dynamic structural equation modeling.
Physiological stress showed a statistically significant decrease over the 16-week intervention, whereas perceived stress remained consistently low and stable throughout.
Autoregressive effects were significant for both domains, with elevated physiological or perceived stress in one week predicting higher levels of that same stressor the following week.
Cross-lagged effects between physiological and perceived stress were non-significant, with dynamic associations showing notable variability across individual participants.

Cite This Study

Abbasi‐Asl et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9935b1636c6408cfa7e185 https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.70212

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September 3, 2026Applied Psychology Health and Well-BeingOpen Access

Within‐person dynamics of physiological and perceived stress among South African youth in positive youth development programs

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

RARoya Abbasi‐Asl NKNatasha Keces RLRichard M. Lerner

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Longitudinal study reveals declining physiological stress alongside stable perceived stress in youth, indicating biological and psychological stress follow distinct trajectories.

Key Points

To examine weekly within-person dynamics and directional relationships between physiological stress and perceived stress among youth enrolled in a positive youth development program.
Conducted a 16-week intensive longitudinal study of 35 rural South African youth (mean age = 11.6 years, SD = 0.62) participating in a positive youth development program.
Collected weekly salivary cortisol samples alongside brief self-report surveys to assess physiological and perceived stress, respectively.
Analyzed temporal trends, autoregressive patterns, and cross-lagged relations using dynamic structural equation modeling.
Physiological stress showed a statistically significant decrease over the 16-week intervention, whereas perceived stress remained consistently low and stable throughout.
Autoregressive effects were significant for both domains, with elevated physiological or perceived stress in one week predicting higher levels of that same stressor the following week.
Cross-lagged effects between physiological and perceived stress were non-significant, with dynamic associations showing notable variability across individual participants.

Cite This Study

Abbasi‐Asl et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9935b1636c6408cfa7e185 https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.70212

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