Table 2.

Studies reporting associations between mastery and measures of psychoneuroendocrine stress systems.

Study	Participants	Design	Mastery Construct	Mastery Measure	CVD Outcome	Results/Findings	Effect Size (Cohen’s d)
Cohen et al., 2006	781 men and women from a multi-site sample, ages 33-45 years	Cross- sectional	Personal Mastery	Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	Diurnal cortisol patterns	Mastery was negatively correlated with diurnal cortisol slope. Mastery partially mediated the relationship between SES and cortisol in combination with other psychosocial variables and health practices (Low SES was associated with higher cortisol via low mastery).	d = −.24
Cottington et al., 1985	444 men and women from a probability sample of the adult population of the state of Michigan, ages 18-96	Cross- sectional	Confidence /control	Scale developed for this study reflecting the level of self- confidence one has in general and in terms of one’s ability to manage problems, control life circumstances, and be stimulated by and enjoy competition	Blood pressure	For normotensive men, but not women, mastery was negatively associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure.	For Men: d = −.17 (systolic) d = −.21 (diastolic) For Women: d = −.10 (systolic) d = .06 (diastolic)
Gerritsen et al., 2009	1,150 older adults from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), mean age 75 ± 7	Cross- sectional	Personal Mastery	5 of the 7 items of the Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	Awakening and evening cortisol patterns and diurnal cortisol variability	Mastery was unassociated with all cortisol measures.	Awakening: d = .10 Evening: d = −.04 Diurnal Variability: d = .07
Light et al., 2004	25 recent mothers without history of drug-exposure during pregnancy or postpartum (age 29±1 years) and 10 recent mothers reporting cocaine use during pregnancy (age 30±2 years); participants were free of CVD	Cross- sectional	Personal Mastery	Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	Resting and post-acute stressor measurements of blood pressure, plasma norepinephrine, plasma epinephrine, and plasma oxytocin; serum cortisol as well as urinary cortisol and catecholamines were also collected.	Oxytocin at baseline and during the stressor task were positively associated with mastery in both groups. Mastery was unassociated with other biomarkers.	Oxytocin: d = .85 (baseline) d = .70 (post- speech) Insufficient information to calculate effect size for other biomarkers
Mausbach, Mills et al, 2007	106 elderly spousal Alzheimer’s disease caregivers, age ≥ 55 years	Cross- sectional	Personal Mastery	Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	β2-adrenergic receptor sensitivity on peripheral mononuclear cells	Mastery was positively associated with receptor sensitivity. Mastery significantly mediated some of the relationship between caregiver burden and receptor sensitivity	d = .58
Mausbach, Aschbacher et al., 2008	115 elderly spousal Alzheimer’s disease caregivers, age ≥ 55 years	Prospective, annual assessments for 5 years	Personal Mastery	Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	β2-adrenergic receptor sensitivity on peripheral mononuclear cells	Caregivers had age-independent decreases in β2-adrenergic receptor sensitivity. Decreases in mastery over time were associated with decreased sensitivity.	d = .34
Roepke et al., In Press	87 elderly spousal Alzheimer’s disease caregivers and 43 non-caregiving controls, age ≥ 55 years	Cross- sectional	Personal Mastery	Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	Allostatic load index including the following indicators: systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, BMI, total/HDL cholesterol ratio, HDL cholesterol, plasma norepinephrine, and plasma epinephrine	Caregivers had higher allostatic load compared to non-caregiving controls. Mastery moderated the relationship between caregiving status and allostatic load, such that caregivers had significantly higher allostatic load compared to controls when mastery was high, but not when mastery was low.	d = .38
van Santen et al., 2011	381 men and women with and without psychiatric diagnoses from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), ages 18-65	Cross- sectional	Personal Mastery	5 of the 7 items of the Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale	Cortisol awakening curve	Mastery was marginally associated with the dynamic of the cortisol awakening response (CAR). Specifically, higher mastery was associated with flatter CAR. Mastery was unassociated with the total cortisol secretion in the first hour after awakening.	d = −.20 (dynamic of the CARE) d = .12 (total cortisol secretion in the first hour)
Younger et al., 2008	73 men and women with rheumatoid arthritis, ages of 23- 81	Prospective laboratory study	Personal Mastery	Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale; items were divided into 2 components: fatalism and control	Resting blood pressure and blood pressure reactivity to laboratory stressor tasks	Those scoring high on the control component had lower mean arterial pressure (MAP) at rest compared to those with low control. However, those with high control also exhibited higher blood pressure reactivity to stress compared to those with low control.	d = −.65 (resting MAP) d = .94 (MAP reactivity to stress)

Note. BMI = body mass index; CVD = cardiovascular disease; HDL = high density lipoprotein; MAP = mean arterial pressure; SES = socioeconomic status