Our new COVID EMA lockdown paper is out! We found signs of hypocortisolism—low cortisol levels indicating a dysregulated stress system—in the general population during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Prolonged stress, loneliness, and fatigue may have contributed to this vulnerability.

🔔 Part 7 in our #WASAD2025, @wasadorg.bsky.social, series: @markusforamitti.bsky.social presented his poster: “Modulating Stress through Sound: The Effects of Historical Metallic Idiophones on Human Responses.”

🎨 Part 6 in our #WASAD2025, @wasadorg.bsky.social, series: Dr. Anna Fekete presented her poster “Exploring the Impact of Art on Pain and Stress: Multimodal Art and Music Enhance Pain Tolerance, but Do Not Influence Autonomic and Endocrine Markers.”

🫠Part 5 in our #WASAD2025, @wasadorg.bsky.social, series: @markusforamitti.bsky.social presented his talk “Regulating Collective Emotion Through Music: Diachronic Analysis of Stress, Sentiment, and Complexity in Lyrics (1973–2023)” in the Everyday life stress session.🙃

⏳Part 4 in our #WASAD2025, @wasadorg.bsky.social, series: @celinebencker.bsky.social presented her talk “Trajectories of everyday life stress across the menstrual cycle” in the Everyday life stress session.

🧬 Part 3 in our #WASAD2025, @wasadorg.bsky.social, series: Dr. Nida Ali presented her talk “Stress biomarkers in saliva” in the Biomarkers and novel therapeutics for stress-related and anxiety disorders session.

🎶 Part 2 in our #WASAD2025, @wasadorg.bsky.social, series: Dr. Anna Fekete presented her talk: “The biopsychological mediation model of music on health – Implications for treatment of stress-related disorders” in the Optimized therapy for stress-related disorders session.

🎉 It’s a wrap! Three amazing days of fascinating research, inspiring presentations, and lively coffee-break discussions are behind us! A huge thank you to everyone who joined, showcased their work, and contributed to making #WASAD2025 such a memorable event. Until next time! 💙🧡💙

🔬Part 1 in our #WASAD2025, @wasadorg.bsky.social, series: Nadja Plumbaum presented her talk “A digital stress management intervention tool – EPIGRAM” in the Digital interventions session.

🌎🧬The 5th International World Association for Stress Related and Anxiety Disorders Congress, "Uncertainty in Times of Change: A Lifecourse Approach to Stress and Anxiety", was held in Munich and opened by Urs Nater. We will share our highlights in our upcoming series 🎉 @wasadorg.bsky.social

It's almost time... #WASAD2025 starts tomorrow! 🎉 We'd love to see all your contributions here on Bluesky. So feel free to use the hashtag #WASAD2025 or tag us @wasadorg.bsky.social if you're posting about the Congress! We're excited to follow along and repost!

P.S.: Can't attend in person but still want to explore some of the posters? You can already browse the ePosters on our website: 👉 wasad2025.org/poster/

🌍 We are excited for the 5th International World Association for Stress Related and Anxiety Disorders (WASAD) Congress in Munich! 🎉 @wasadorg.bsky.social Check out our oral presentations below and don’t miss us at the poster session! 📊 @celinebencker.bsky.social @markusforamitti.bsky.social

We’re excited to share our new paper from an international collaboration🎶: The short-term impact of music interventions on stress: results of a multinational cluster-randomized trial using salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase assessments in care home residents with dementia! doi.org/10.1016/j.ps...

Dr. Nida Ali, a postdoc in our lab, was awarded the L'Oré[email protected] For Women in #Science Award 2025! 🎉 She is researching the alpha-amylase awakening response as a potential biomarker for stress, aiming to improve the precision of autonomic nervous system diagnoses. Congratulations! 🎉

Congratulations to Nida Ali, postdoc in our lab, for receiving the L'Oré[email protected] For Women in #Science Award 2025! She is one of 4 awardees, including 2 from #univie. 🥳 Huge congratulations to the winners!

Last but definitely not least, Andreas Schwerdtfeger asks the question: "Does the heart know best?" In his talk, he evaluates the effectiveness of just in time interventions triggered by heart rate variability to relieve stress 🫀📲

Last month we gathered to celebrate the retirement of Professor Reinhold Jagsch at a lovely celebration with colleagues. 🎉 We thank him for the many years of inspiring collaboration and wish him all the best for his next chapter! 🍀

Welcome to the Faculty of Psychology of @univie.ac.at! We are happy to welcome new students and enjoyed sharing information about the research conducted in our Stress Lab. Wishing everyone a great start to their studies! 🎉💫🔬

Over the past weeks, we shared highlights from the many inspiring talks and discussions at #ICBM2025 It was a pleasure to contribute to such a vibrant and insightful congress. We look forward to continuing the dialogue at the next ICBM in Singapore! 🌆✨

🧑‍⚕️Part 15 in our #ICBM2025 series: In the oral presentations session @celinebencker.bsky.social‬ presented "Stress, Trauma, and Core Premenstrual Disorders: A Systematic Review and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis" & "Exploring Patterns of Stress and Premenstrual Symptoms in Daily Life: The ISSAC Study."

🧬Part 14 in our #ICBM2025 series: In the "Persistent Somatic Symptom Symposium: New Developments in Basic and Applied Research" @nplumbaum.bsky.social presented "Efficacy of an App-Based Stress Management Intervention for Reducing Somatic Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial Using EMI."

💡 Part 13 in our #ICBM2025 series! In the poster session, Rojan Amini-Nejad presented "Post-migration Stress and Mental Health in Forcibly Displaced People: Protocol for an Ecological Momentary Assessment Study."

🫂 Part 12 in our #ICBM2025 series! In the oral presentations session on Novel Approaches to Stress Management, @adreisoerner.bsky.social presented "Self-Soothing Touch and Being Hugged Reduce Cortisol Responses to Stress: A Randomized Controlled Trial on Stress, Touch, and Social Identity."

🫁 Part 11 in our #ICBM2025 series! Dr. Hannah Tschenett presented two studies: "Managing stress in the daily lives of lung cancer outpatients: Findings from a pilot study" & "Does mindful awareness decrease stress in partners of individuals post-stroke? Findings from a daily diary study."

🎨Part 10 in our #ICBM2025 series! In the oral presentations session on Novel Approaches to Stress Management, Dr. Anna Fekete presented "How Does Art Influence Pain and Stress? Investigating Autonomic and Endocrine Markers of Music, Visual Art, and Multimodal Art Experience."

🔬Part 9 in our #ICBM2025 series! In the oral presentations session on Novel Approaches to Stress Management, Teresa O'Rourke‬ @teresaorourke.bsky.social presented "Coping with Gender Minority Stress: Influence of Coping and Social Support on Stress in Gender Diverse Youth."

Congratulations to our team member Celine Bencker for being one of the recipients of the Gertrud Jungblut Award, awarded at the workshop "My Body, My Brain, My Choices" by the @cogneuroend.bsky.social !!🎉

A heartfelt thank you to the @cogneuroend.bsky.social group for such an inspiring workshop on taboos in #womenshealth research! ❤️ Seeing so many women advancing science and clinical care in women’s health was incredibly motivating! …

Then, @markusforamitti.bsky.social will follow up with a fascinating exploration of how music helps regulate collective emotion in his talk: "Regulating Collective Emotion Through Music: Diachronic Analysis of Stress, Sentiment, and Complexity in Lyrics (1973–2023)" 📝🎶

Up next, Lydia Kogler will share insights on how social stress, the cortisol awakening response, and sex differences influence hippocampal and amygdala volume. ⏰🧠

🎧 Part 8 in our #ICBM2025 series! Roxana Esfandiari presented a poster about Stefanie Hirsch's project, "Pilot study on the feasibility and effectiveness of an ecological momentary music intervention for stress reduction in Turkish immigrant women".

🎵 Part 7 in our #ICBM2025 series! Markus Foramitti @markusforamitti.bsky.social presented his poster, "Sounds of the past – Effects of historical idiophones on psychological and physiological stress".

🎼 Part 6 in our #ICBM2025 series! Dr. Anna Fekete presented her poster "Stress as a Mediator of the Effects of Music on Health: The Biopsychological Mediation Model".

🥼 Part 5 in our #ICBM2025 series! As part of the Symposium "Mechanisms in Persistent Somatic Symptoms", our team member Dr. Nida Ali presented her talk on "Psychobiological mechanisms of fatigue and chronic stress in adults: Evidence from Lab to Life."

💤 Part 4 in our #ICBM2025 series! Caroline Rakowitz presented two posters on "Human Peak Performance in Special Operations Forces", highlighting Stress, Recovery, Health Optimization and a Digital Sleep Intervention. Results from a Longitudinal Intervention Study!

🎶 Part 3 in our #ICBM2025 series! Markus Foramitti @markusforamitti.bsky.social‬ presented his poster, "Insights into Societal Mood Regulation Through Music - Diachronic Analysis of Stress, Sentiment, and Complexity in Popular Music Lyrics."

⚕️Part 2 in our #ICBM2025 series! After an introduction by the Chair of the Local Organizing Committee, Urs Nater participated in a roundtable discussion on the future of behavioral medicine in a panel of ISBM Past Presidents

Looking forward to contributing to this plenary session at #WASAD2025 in Munich on October 25 and to inspiring discussions!

💡 Part 1 of our #ICBM2025 series! Ahead of the upcoming conference, the ISBM Board and Governing Council gathered at the University of Vienna for a series of productive pre-conference meetings. Urs Nater, Head of our lab, participated as Member-at-Large and Chair of the Local Organizing Committee.

Over the next couple of days we'll share highlights from our team's participation at #ICBM2025 Just in time, the Congress abstracts have been published! Take a look here: doi.org/10.1007/s125...

📢 Great News!! The scientific program for #WASAD2025 “Uncertainty in Times of Change: A Lifecourse Approach to Stress and Anxiety,” is now complete. The topics include prevention, mental health, psychocardiology, and numerous others! Explore the full program here: 👉 wasad2025.org/scientific-p...

Maidhof et al. (2025) (@rosamaidhof.bsky.social) found self-selected music boosted pain tolerance, but women music empathizers felt more pain with their own music. Stress, not emotions, mediated this link, highlighting the need for personalized pain management. doi.org/10.1080/1025...

⏳ Deadline approaching! Have you submitted your abstract for poster or e-poster presentations yet? Don’t miss your chance to showcase your work and connect with other researchers! Submissions close on September 15, 2025! 📩 Submit your abstract here: wasad2025.org/registration... #WASAD2025

🎉 New paper out! Led by Hannah Tschenett, together with @lungenforschung.bsky.social and @lungendoc.bsky.social, we show digital mindfulness is feasible for people with COPD – early signs of reduced anxiety, stress & dyspnoea. Read more about it here: 📄 rdcu.be/enQkA

💡 New Plenary at #WASAD2025! 💡 "Boosting Societal Adaptation & Mental Health in a Rapidly Digitalizing, Post-Pandemic Europe" 💻🧠🇪🇺 Chaired by Susanne Walitza & Julius Burkauskas, this session explores timely, critical insights into digital life and mental health in Europe.

The talks include: A virtual introduction into the "BootStRaP Horizon Europe" project on problematic use of the internet among European adolescents, with its aims and mission (Naomi Fineberg) 💡📱🇪🇺 Recruitment and first results of the project among European adolescents (Jasmin Schilling) 📈🇪🇺

Insights from recent Lithuanian surveys on internet use & mental health (Julius Burkauskas) 🇱🇹 Emotional distress and its role in the development of problematic internet use (Annika Brandtner) 🇪🇺 Stress and mental health conditions induced by pathological media use in Swiss teens (Susanne Walitza)🇨🇭

We are excited to share our contribution to a study with @talkywalky.bsky.social, @sinhaengel.bsky.social & colleagues on how an internet-based CBT intervention for MDD impacts sleep quality and stress markers. Read about the results here: doi.org/10.1016/j.cp...