Long-term psychobiological stress responses following soft political repression

Abstract

Abstract The sociopolitical environment can act as a potent stressor with significant consequences for health and well-being. Of increasing global relevance in this context is soft political repression, including denunciation and surveillance, which is employed to prevent oppositional behavior while minimizing international attention. Although common in authoritarian regimes, including the former German Democratic Republic (GDR; 1949–1990), little is known about its psychobiological health consequences. We examined 100 individuals raised in the GDR (49 exposed to repression, 51 matched controls) to investigate stress responses, a key pathway to long-term health. Participants completed questionnaires and, if health-related inclusion criteria were met and they felt able to complete the task, underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST; repression n  = 29, controls n  = 46). Subjective stress, cortisol, heart rate, and heart rate variability were assessed. The repression group reported higher stress, but did not differ from controls in physiological measures. Subgroup analyses showed that repression participants who declined attending the TSST exhibited elevated symptoms of distress, anxiety, depression and trauma, whereas completers were comparable to controls. Our findings suggest differential long-term consequences of soft political repression, with preliminary evidence for both vulnerable and resilient groups and raise broader methodological questions regarding the ecological validity of laboratory-based stress research in vulnerable groups.