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Conducting research on stress mechanisms and interventions in health and disease - inside and outside the lab. Member of Green Labs Austria. Head: Prof. Urs Nater

ÖGP 2026 talk highlights from our lab: @markusforamitti.bsky.social presented how ASMR can reduce stress, @adreisoerner.bsky.social presented a meta-analysis on mental health in early-career researchers, and @celinebencker.bsky.social shared findings on PMS and stress.

Had a great time presenting alongside @sibelnayman.bsky.social @katjaschmalen.bsky.social, Michele Schmitter, & Belinda Pletzer at our symposium on reproductive mental health at the #dpk2026 in Berlin. So glad to see the topic met with such interest from researchers and clinicians!

We are glad to share our new Registered Report paper with @rosamaidhof.bsky.social and @evalabs.bsky.social on the effect of visual art and music on pain and stress. Exposure to multimodal art resulted in longer pain tolerance compared to visual art, but not compared to music doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Our lab member @celinebencker.bsky.social represented the lab at #DPK2026 in Berlin. Together with @sibelnayman.bsky.social, she co-organized a symposium on reproductive mental health and shared insights from her ongoing study on stress patterns and premenstrual symptoms across the menstrual cycle.

Excited to share our new paper in collaboration with @odkothgassner.bsky.social, @andreasgoreis.bsky.social and colleagues. We examined hair cortisol levels in trauma-exposed adolescents who engage in nonsuicidal self-harm. Read here: doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2026.107920

Pleased to see our collaboration with @andreasgoreis.bsky.social, @odkothgassner.bsky.social, and colleagues now published. 📖 We examine how experimental ostracism impacts cortisol, autonomic regulation, and affect in adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury. Read the paper: doi.org/10.1186/s130...

We returned from ÖGP 2026, the 16th Conference of the Austrian Psychology Association, in Salzburg last week and are full of inspiration. 💭✍️ Thank you all for the insightful talks, constructive feedback, and new ideas. We will share out lab's highlights next week! ☀️🎉

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is common in trauma-exposed adolescents and has been linked to dysregulation of stress-response systems, including the …

www.sciencedirect.com

Last week Anna Fekete presented our lab's work at the Congress of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics in Jena @iaea-jena2026.bsky.social. Thank you for all the inspiration and exchange! 🌻🎶☀️

Background Adolescents who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) show a high sensitivity to ostracism, and its effects may be amplified by dysregulated stress-system function. However, ecologically grounded experimental studies examining multilevel stress responses in adolescent mental health remain scarce. We used a novel, ecologically valid in-person ostracism paradigm to assess subjective, autonomic, and endocrine responses in adolescents with recent NSSI and to characterize stress trajectories. Methods Fifty adolescents with recent NSSI (mean age = 16.40 years, 76% female) were randomized (1:1) to live social inclusion or exclusion in a face-to-face ball-toss task based on the Cyberball paradigm. Salivary cortisol was sampled at five points from pre-task to 40 min post-task. Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were recorded at baseline and during the interaction. Subjective stress, tension, and NSSI urges were assessed before and after the task. Perceived exclusion and psychological need threat were also assessed. Results We found clear ostracism effects on perceived exclusion and basic psychological need threat. Cortisol declined across the paradigm in both conditions (inclusion/exclusion), but the decline was flatter after exclusion, indicating attenuated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis downregulation. HR decreased modestly over time across conditions, and HRV diverged by condition: it decreased during exclusion and increased during inclusion. There were no condition-related changes in self-reported stress, tension, or NSSI urges. Conclusions These findings suggest a decoupling between subjective and psychobiological stress systems in adolescents with NSSI in response to ostracism, characterized by rapid parasympathetic withdrawal and a blunted HPA axis downregulation. This pattern may reflect heightened physiological sensitivity to social threat despite limited conscious distress. Trial registration: This study has been registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (ID: DRKS00025905, https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00025905).

ÖGP 2026 poster highlights: Hannah Tschenett presented on digital stress management; Anna Fekete introduced a questionnaire for music preferences; Sarah Landskron shared an RCT on yoga effects on stress and inflammation, @markusforamitti.bsky.social presented music as collective emotion regulation

Excited to share our paper on perceived health benefits of martial arts and combat sports 🌞👩‍🔬 We found that practitioners report physical, cognitive, emotional and social benefits linked to better self-rated health, with effects across experience levels, not just among most seasoned practitioners 👉

IntroductionWhile there are many anecdotal claims and a growing body of literature on the health benefits of martial arts (MA) and combat sports (CS), resear...