Although being a universal human experience, psychological and physiological reactions to acute stress differ substantially between individuals. Additionally, individuals differ with regard to the extent of the correspondence between their psychological and physiological stress reactions (i.e., higher psychological stress being related to higher physiological stress and vice versa). However, despite its potential importance for mental and physical health, key factors shaping this correspondence remain poorly understood. This preregistered study examines individual differences in the psycho-physiological stress correspondence while considering multiple personality traits (including the Big Five, trait anxiety and general cognitive ability) as potential moderators. The Maastricht Acute Stress Test (MAST) was used to induce psychological and physiological stress in 149 healthy adults who were randomly assigned to a stress (n = 74) and a placebo (n = 75) group. Psycho-physiological stress correspondence was measured between perceived psychological stress and several physiological stress indicators reflecting the activation of both the SAM and the HPA axes (blood pressure, heart rate, salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase). Linear regression analyses and Bayesian analyses pointed to zero or a weak psycho-physiological correspondence across all examined indicators. Moderated regression analyses suggested conscientiousness and openness as the most relevant potential moderators out of all examined traits, with higher manifestations related to higher psycho-physiological correspondence. Overall, however, only few moderation effects reached significance, indicating other possibly relevant moderators (e.g., interoceptive abilities). Implications for future research are discussed to shed light on when, for whom, and with which consequences psychological and physiological reactions align under stress.

The correspondence between physiological and perceived stress remains inconsistent, raising questions about when and for whom these indicators converge in daily life. This relationship may be specifically altered following acute infection, as bodily responses suggest changes in autonomic regulation and stress processing.

This study examined the dynamic interplay between cardiac vagal activity and perceived stress in everyday life in 118 adults assessed 4–15 weeks after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Continuous heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring was combined with ecological momentary assessment over 72 hours to capture within-person fluctuations in autonomic activity and stress experience.

Multilevel analyses showed that reductions in vagal activity, indexed by RMSSD from beat-to-beat ECG recordings, were associated with higher momentary stress and prospective increases in stress at subsequent assessments, controlling for depressive symptoms, physical activity, and substance use. These findings indicate that autonomic dysregulation may precede, rather than merely accompany, stress experience.

Cross-level interaction analyses further revealed that chronic fatigue severity moderates the strength of HRV–stress coupling. Individuals with higher fatigue levels exhibited a stronger association between autonomic fluctuations and perceived stress, with effects observable below clinical thresholds. Additional analyses examined the roles of illness severity and depressive symptoms in shaping this relationship.

Overall, the findings demonstrate a robust yet variable coupling between cardiac vagal activity and perceived stress, highlighting individual vulnerability factors that influence the alignment of physiological and subjective stress in daily life.

Stress is a key determinant of both mental and physical health, making its mechanisms essential to understand. Current approaches to assessing acute stress responses largely rely on self-reports, which are prone to bias, or on biological markers that often require invasive and resource-intensive procedures. Body posture and movement represent a promising, yet underexplored, modality for stress assessment, as they are systematically affected by threat and negative emotional states.

We examined whether full-body movement patterns during acute psychosocial stress can predict both subjective stress exposure and endocrine responses. Across two studies (Pilot: N = 20; Main: N = 39), participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a stress-free control condition (friendly TSST) in randomized order while wearing inertial measurement unit (IMU)-based motion capture suits. In a subsample (N = 41), salivary cortisol responses were assessed to index hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity.

Acute stress induction was associated with a reproducible movement pattern, characterized by reduced motion and longer periods of immobility. Machine-learning models trained on movement features distinguished stress from control conditions with accuracies of 75.0 ± 17.7% (pilot) and 73.4 ± 7.7% (main). Movement dynamics also predicted endocrine responses: classification of cortisol responders versus non-responders reached 65.2% accuracy, and regression models predicted cortisol increases with a mean absolute error of 2.94 nmol/l.

These findings demonstrate that body posture and movement contain meaningful information about both acute psychosocial stress exposure and HPA axis reactivity. Movement-based markers may serve as objective, non-invasive proxies of stress responses and extend established measures.

Distress can be conceptualized as a negative emotional state arising when perceived demands exceed coping resources, including affective and physiological responses. We report the development and validation of a 17-item multidimensional state distress scale as well as a more economic short version. From an initial item pool of 42 items, four highly correlated factors (overload, tension, arousal, and cognitive interference) were identified as core components at the first measurement occasion (baseline) of the primary sample (N = 425). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the model at the second measurement occasion (high-stress) and strict longitudinal measurement invariance for ordinal data was established, allowing comparison of distress levels across time. Internal consistency was high for all subscales (ω = .80-.88) and the total scale (ω = .93), suggesting high reliability. The factor structure was then cross-validated in an independent and demographically broader sample (N = 212). The model again showed good fit and achieved strict measurement invariance, supporting generalizability across populations. Construct validity was supported by correlations with established measures of stress and affect. Distress scores showed expected high positive associations with negative affect and negative associations with positive affect. Correlations with long-term perceived stress were at best moderate, supporting discriminant validity. Moreover, all four factors were highly sensitive to an experimental stressor, indicating that the scale captures dynamic changes in distress. Overall, results provide strong evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale, supporting its use as a sensitive measure of state distress in laboratory and applied research.