Associations of Anger Expression and Social Anxiety with Cortisol, the Cortisol/DHEA-S Ratio, and Interleukin-6 in Psychiatric Outpatients: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study

Background

Chronic psychological stress can alter hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and inflammatory signaling. However, the biological correlates of specific stress-related emotional experiences and expression patterns remain incompletely characterized in clinical populations. We therefore examined the associations of anger expression and social anxiety with HPA-axis-related and inflammatory biomarkers in psychiatric outpatients.