Dr. Wolff Schlotz

Background

Qualifications

Dr.rer.nat., Dipl.-Psych., FHEA

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PubMed

Articles

Powell, D.J.H., Liossi, C., Moss-Morris, R., & Schlotz, W. (2013). Unstimulated cortisol secretory activity in everyday life and its relationship with fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review and subset meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.07.004. OPEN ACCESS

Schlotz, W., Phillips, D.I.W., & the Hertfordshire Cohort Study Group (2013). Birth weight and perceived stress reactivity in older age. Stress and Health, 29(1), 56-63. doi:10.1002/smi.2425 FREE PMC ARTICLE

Banaschewski, T., Jennen-Steinmetz, C., Brandeis, D., Buitelaar, J. K., Kuntsi, J., Poustka, L., Sergeant, J. A., Sonuga-Barke, E. J., Frazier-Wood, A. C., Albrecht, B., Chen, W., Uebel, H., Schlotz, W., van der Meere, J. J., Gill, M., Manor, I., Miranda, A., Mulas, F., Oades, R. D., Roeyers, H., Rothenberger, A., Steinhausen, H.-C., Faraone, S. V., & Asherson, P. (2012). Neuropsychological correlates of emotional lability in children with ADHD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53(11), 1139-1148. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2012.02596.x

Kudielka, B.M., Gierens, A., Hellhammer, D.H., Wüst, S., & Schlotz, W. (2012). Salivary Cortisol in Ambulatory Assessment – Some Dos, Some Don’ts, Some Open Questions. Psychosomatic Medicine, 74(4), 418-431. doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e31825434c7

Powell, D. J., & Schlotz, W. (2012). Daily Life Stress and the Cortisol Awakening Response: Testing the Anticipation Hypothesis. PLoS ONE, 7(12), e52067. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052067. OPEN ACCESS 

Rutter, M., Kumsta, R., Schlotz, W., & Sonuga-Barke, E. (2012). Longitudinal Studies Using a “Natural Experiment” Design: The Case of Adoptees From Romanian Institutions. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(8), 762-770. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2012.05.011

Teasdale, E., Yardley, L., Schlotz, W., & Michie, S. (2012). The importance of coping appraisal in behavioural responses to pandemic flu. British Journal of Health Psychology, 17(1), 44-59. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8287.2011.02017.x

Lawrence W., Schlotz W., Crozier S., Skinner T.C., Haslam C., Robinson S., Inskip H., Cooper C., Barker M. and The Food Choice Group (2011). Specific psychological variables predict quality of diet in women of lower, but not higher, educational attainment. Appetite, 56(1), 46-52. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2010.11.003 FREE PMC ARTICLE

Routledge, C., Arndt, J., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Hart, C.M., Juhl, J., Vingerhoets, A.J.J.M., & Schlotz, W. (2011).The Past Makes the Present Meaningful: Nostalgia as an Existential Resource. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(3), 638-652. doi: 10.1037/a0024292

Schlotz, W., Hammerfald, K., Ehlert, U., & Gaab, J. (2011). Individual differences in the cortisol response to stress in young healthy men: Testing the roles of perceived stress reactivity and threat appraisal using multiphase latent growth curve modeling. Biological Psychology, 87, 257-264. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.03.005

Schlotz, W., Yim, I.S., Zoccola, P.M., Jansen, L., & Schulz, P. (2011). The Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale: Measurement invariance, stability and validity in three countries. Psychological Assessment, 23(1), 80-94. doi: 10.1037/a0021148.

Sonuga-Barke, E. J., Kumsta, R., Schlotz, W., Lasky-Su, J., Marco, R., Miranda, A., Mulas, F., Oades, R. D., Banaschewski, T., Mueller, U., Andreou, P., Christiansen, H., Gabriels, I., Uebel, H., Kuntsi, J., Franke, B., Buitelaar, J., Ebstein, R., Gill, M., Anney, R., Roeyers, H., Rothenberger, A., Sergeant, J., Steinhausen, H. C., Asherson, P., & Faraone, S. V. (2011). A Functional Variant of the Serotonin Transporter Gene (SLC6A4) Moderates Impulsive Choice in Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Boys and Siblings. Biological Psychiatry, 70(3), 230-236. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.01.040 FREE PMC ARTICLE

Yardley, L., Miller, S., Schlotz, W., & Little, P. (2011). Evaluation of a Web-based Intervention to Promote Hand Hygiene: Exploratory randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13(4), e107. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1963. OPEN ACCESS

Kumsta, R., Stevens, S., Brookes, K., Schlotz, W., Castle, J., Beckett, C., Kreppner, J., Rutter, M., & Sonuga-Barke, E.J.S. (2010). 5HTT genotype moderates the influence of early institutional deprivation on emotional problems in adolescence: evidence from the English and Romanian Adoptees (ERA) study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 755-762.doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02249.x

Preuss, D., Schoofs, D., Schlotz, W., & Wolf, O. T. (2010). The stressed student: Influence of written examinations and oral presentations on salivary cortisol concentrations in university students. Stress, 13(3), 221-229. doi: 10.3109/10253890903277579

Schlotz, W., Jones, A., Phillips, D.I.W., Gale, C.R., Robinson, S.M., & Godfrey, K. (2010). Lower maternal folate status in early pregnancy is associated with childhood hyperactivity and peer problems in offspring. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 594-602. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02182.x FREE PMC ARTICLE

Sonuga-Barke, E. J., Schlotz, W., & Kreppner, J. (2010). Differentiating developmental trajectories for conduct, emotion, and peer problems following early deprivation. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 75(1), 102-124. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5834.2010.00552.x

Sonuga-Barke, E. J., Schlotz, W., & Rutter, M. (2010). Physical growth and maturation following early severe institutional deprivation: Do they mediate specific psychopathological effects? Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 75(1), 143-166. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5834.2010.00554.x

Castle, J., Groothues, C., Beckett, C., Colvert, E., Hawkins, A., Kreppner, J., Kumsta, R., Schlotz, W., Sonuga-Barke, E., Stevens, S., Rutter, M. (2009). Parents' evaluation of adoption success: A follow-up study of intercountry and domestic adoptions. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 79, 522-531. doi: 10.1037/a0017262

Marco, R., Miranda, A., Schlotz, W., Melia, A., Mulligan, A., Muller, U., Andreou, P., Butler, L., Christiansen, H., Gabriels, I., Medad, S., Albrecht, B., Uebel, H., Asherson, P., Banaschewski, T., Gill, M., Kuntsi, J., Mulas, F., Oades, R., Roeyers, H., Steinhausen, H. C., Rothenberger, A., Faraone, S. V., & Sonuga-Barke, E. J. (2009). Delay and reward choice in ADHD: An experimental test of the role of delay aversion. Neuropsychology, 23, 367-380. doi: 10.1037/a0014914

Rowold, J., & Schlotz, W.(2009). Transformational and transactional leadership and followers’ chronic stress. Leadership Review, 9, 35-48.

Schlotz, W., & Phillips, D.I.W. (2009). Fetal origins of mental health: Evidence and mechanisms. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 23, 905-916. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2009.02.001

Ebner-Priemer, U.W., Kuo, J., Schlotz, W., Kleindienst, N., Rosenthal, M.Z., Detterer, L., Linehan, M.M., Bohus, M. (2008). Distress and affective dysregulation in patients with borderline personality disorder: A psychophysiological ambulatory monitoring study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196, 314-320. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e31816a493f

Gale, C.R., Robinson, S.M., Godfrey, K.M., Law, C.M., Schlotz, W., O’Callaghan, F.J. (2008). Oily fish intake during pregnancy - association with lower hyperactivity but not with higher full-scale IQ in offspring. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 1061-1068. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01908.x

Hewig, J.*, Schlotz, W.*, Gerhards, F., Breitenstein, C., Lürken, A., & Naumann, E. (2008). Associations of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) with cortical activation asymmetry during the course of an exam stress period. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33, 83-91. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.10.004

Schlotz, W., Jones, A., Godfrey, K.M., & Phillips, D.I.W. (2008). Effortful control mediates associations of fetal growth with hyperactivity and behavioural problems in 7- to 9-year-old children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 1228-1236. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01946.x

Schlotz, W., Kumsta, R., Layes, I., Entringer, S., Jones, A., & Wüst, S. (2008). Covariance between psychological and endocrine responses to pharmacological challenge and psychosocial stress: a question of timing. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70, 787-796. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181810658. FREE ARTICLE

Stiglmayr, C.E., Ebner-Priemer, U.W., Bretz, J., Behm, R., Mohse, M., Lammers, C.-H., Angelescou, I., Schmahl, C., Schlotz, W., Kleindienst, N., & Bohus, M. (2008). Dissociative symptoms are positively related to stress in borderline personality disorder. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 117, 139-147. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2007.01126.x

Hellhammer, J., Fries, E., Schweisthal, O.W., Schlotz, W., Stone, A.A., & Hagemann, D. (2007). Several daily measurements are necessary to reliably assess the cortisol rise after awakening: State- and trait components. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 32, 80-86. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2006.10.005

Nater, U., Rohleder, N., Schlotz, W., Ehlert, U., & Kirschbaum, C. (2007). Determinants of the diurnal course of salivary alpha-amylase. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 32, 392-401. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.02.007

Schlotz, W., Ambery, P., Syddall H.E., Crozier, S., AihieSayer, A., Cooper, C., & Phillips, D.I.W. (2007). Specific associations of insulin resistance with health related quality of life in the Hertfordshire Cohort Study. Quality of Life Research, 16, 429-436. doi: 10.1007/s11136-006-9129-5

Schlotz, W., Jones, A., Phillips, N.M.M., Godfrey, K.M., & Phillips, D.I.W. (2007). Size at birth and motor activity during stress in children aged 7 to 9 years. Pediatrics, 120, e1237-e1244. doi: 10.1542/peds.2006-3277. FREE ARTICLE

Wilhelm, I., Born, J., Kudielka, B.M., Schlotz, W., & Wüst, S. (2007). Is the cortisol awakening rise a response to awakening? Psychoneuroendocrinology, 32, 358-366. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2007.01.008

Federenko, I.S., Schlotz, W., Kirschbaum, C., Hellhammer, D.H., Bartels, M., & Wüst, S. (2006). The heritability of perceived stress. Psychological Medicine, 36, 375-386. doi: 10.1017/S0033291705006616

Federenko, I.S., Wolf, J.M., Wüst, S., Schlotz, W., Hellhammer, J., Kudielka, B.M., Kirschbaum, C., Hellhammer, D.H., & Wadhwa, P.D. (2006). Parity does not alter baseline or stimulated activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis in women. Developmental Psychobiology, 48, 703-711. doi: 10.1002/dev.20187

Schlotz, W., Schulz, P., Hellhammer, J., Stone, A.A., & Hellhammer, D.H. (2006). Trait anxiety moderates the impact of performance pressure on salivary cortisol in everyday life. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31, 459-472. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.11.003

Schulz, P., Jansen, L., & Schlotz, W. (2005). Stressreaktivität: Theoretisches Konzept und Messung. Diagnostica, 51,124-133. doi: 10.1026/0012-1924.51.3.124

Wüst, S., Entringer, S., Federenko, I. S., Schlotz, W., & Hellhammer, D. H. (2005). Birth weight is associated with salivary cortisol responses to psychosocial stress in adult life. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 30(6), 591-598. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2005.01.008

Becker, P., Schulz, P., & Schlotz, W. (2004). Persönlichkeit, chronischer Stress und körperliche Gesundheit. Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie, 12, 11-23.doi: 10.1026/0943-8149.12.1.11

Hellhammer, J., Schlotz, W., Stone, A.A., Pirke, K.M., & Hellhammer, D. (2004). Allostatic load, perceived stress, and health: a prospective study in two age groups. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1032, 8-13. doi: 10.1196/annals.1314.002

Schlotz, W., Hellhammer, J., Schulz, P., & Stone, A.A. (2004). Perceived work overload and chronic worrying predict weekend-weekday differences in the cortisol awakening response. Psychosomatic Medicine, 66, 207-214. doi: 10.1097/01.psy.0000116715.78238.56. FREE ARTICLE

Schulz, P., Hellhammer, J., & Schlotz, W. (2003). Arbeitsstress, sozialer Stress und Schlafqualität: Differentielle Effekte unter Berücksichtigung von Alter, Besorgnisneigung und Gesundheit. Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie, 11, 1-9. doi: 10.1026//0943-8149.11.1.1

Schulz, P., Schlotz, W., & Hellhammer, J. (2003). Zur Bestimmung von Alterseffekten bei der subjektiven Beurteilung des Schlafes. Zeitschrift für Gerontopsychologie und - psychiatrie, 16, 63-75. doi: 10.1024//1011-6877.16.2.63

Schulz, P., Schlotz, W., Wolf, J., & Wüst, S. (2002). Geschlechtsunterschiede bei stressbezogenen Variablen: Der Einfluss der Neigung zur Besorgnis. Zeitschrift für Differentielle und Diagnostische Psychologie, 23, 305-326. doi: 10.1024//0170-1789.23.3.305

Schulz, P., & Schlotz, W. (1999). Das Trierer Inventar zur Erfassung von chronischem Streß (TICS): Skalenkonstruktion, teststatistische Überprüfung und Validierung der Skala Arbeitsüberlastung. Diagnostica, 45, 8-19. doi: 10.1026//0012-1924.45.1.8

Book sections

Schlotz, W. (2013). Stress reactivity. In M.D. Gellman & R.J. Turner (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine (pp. 1891-1894). New York: Springer.

Schlotz, W. (2012). Fetal effects. In R.J.R. Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Adolescence (pp. 1022-1033). New York: Springer.

Schlotz, W. (2012). Ambulatory psychoneuroendocrinology: Assessing salivary cortisol and other hormones in daily life. In M.R. Mehl & T.S. Conner (Eds.), Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Daily Life (pp. 193-209). New York: Guilford.

Schlotz, W. (2008). TICS: Trierer Inventar zum chronischen Stress. In J. Bengel, M. Wirtz & C. Zwingmann (Eds.), Diagnostische Verfahren in der Rehabilitation (pp. 139-143), Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Gollwitzer, M., & Schlotz, W. (2003). Das "Trierer Inventar zur Lehrveranstaltungsevaluation" (TRIL): Entwicklung und erste testtheoretische Erprobungen. In G. Krampen & H. Zayer (Hrsg.), Psychologiedidaktik und Evaluation IV (pp. 114-128). Bonn: Deutscher Psychologen Verlag.

Books

Rutter, M., Sonuga-Barke, E., Beckett, C., Castle, J., Kreppner, J., Kumsta, R., Schlotz, W., Stevens, S.E., & Bell, C.A. (2010). Deprivation-specific psychological patterns: Effects of institutional deprivation (Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Vol. 75(1)). Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.

Schlotz, W. (2005). Kovariation psychoendokriner Stressindikatoren: Analyse von Cortisol und Stresserleben mit Multilevel-Modellen. Berlin: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag wvb. [Anfrage .pdf]

Schulz, P., Schlotz, W., & Becker, P. (2004). Das Trierer Inventar zum chronischen Stress (TICS) - Manual. Göttingen: Hogrefe.

BSc Psychology

• Psychometrics (basics)
  
• Research Methods Practical

MSc Psychology

• Psychometrics (advanced)
  
• Ambulatory Assessment

More information (in German).

Research Interests

Stress diagnostics

Measurement of chronic stress experience and subjective stress reactivity; cross-correlation of psychological and endocrine stress responses; ambulatory assessment of stressors, distress and physiological stress responses.

Psychoendocrinological factors in health and disease

Interactions of subjective experience, individual behaviour, and endocrine regulations, and their effect on well-being, health and disease.

Developmental origins of behaviour, health and mental health

Research on longlasting effects of prenatal and early postnatal environmental factors on personality, stress reactivity, and behavioural adaptation later in life.

Longitudinal data analysis

Application of multilevel/mixed/growth-curve models for the analysis of repeated measures, for example to examine endocrine stress responses, diurnal rhythms, and psychoendocrine covariation in laboratory and field studies, or developmental trajectories in quasi-experimental and cohort studies.

Research projects

Brain development study

The purpose of the study is to assess associations of fetal growth across the normal range with structure and function of the brain in adolescence. As fetal growth is an indicator of an adverse prenatal developmental environment, permanent effects on brain development might help to explain associations between prenatal developmental factors and behaviour which have been found in earlier studies. This study is a collaborative effort between the University of Southampton’s School of Psychology, the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit in Southampton and the University of Oxford’s Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB) . Funded by Wessex Medical Research (WMR)

Psychosocial stress and multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms

An investigation of the role of everyday life stress and cortisol secretion in the occurrence and experience of MS symptoms. Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients frequently associate a worsening of symptoms with stress, but yet research into this possible association has only recently begun to accumulate. Studies have usually focussed on a relationship between stressful life events and MS onset, exacerbation, and progression. In particular, research evidence now appears to indicate a link between stress and risk of symptom exacerbation among patients with the relapsing-remitting form of MS. This study aims to prospectively investigate the influence of everyday stressors and the multifaceted response to stress on MS symptom-progression and in particular, MS fatigue. Funded by University of Southampton

English and Romanian Adoptees Study (ERA)

A longitudinal study to investigate consequences of early deprivation for psychological development, including potential mechanisms. The study is being conducted at the University of Southampton. Recent follow-ups are funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC)

Chronic stress as a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's Disease

A longitudinal study to investigate immunological, endocrinological, and genetic mechanisms in association of the role of chronic stress in the conversion from amnestic mild cognitive impairment to dementia (Alzheimer's Disease). Funded by Alzheimer's Society.

Ambulatory assessment of perceived stress and stress physiology

The assessment of behaviour in everyday life makes it possible to investigate dynamic processes and context effects, minimises recall bias due to retrospective self-report, and ideally achieves generalisable conclusions about people's daily life.

Modern devices offer the opportunity to collect a broad variety of data from subjective, behavioural, and physiological measures in daily life. For example, stress research combines smartphone-based self-reports of perceived stress with salivary cortisol assessements to investigate details of psychoendocrine stress processes relevant for daily life.

General information for the assessment of hormones in daily life:

Schlotz, W. (2012). Ambulatory psychoneuroendocrinology: Assessing salivary cortisol and other hormones in daily life. In M. R. Mehl & T. S. Conner (Eds.), Handbook of Research Methods for Studying Daily Life (pp. 193-209). New York: Guilford.

A recent study using daily life research methods:

Powell, D. J., & Schlotz, W. (2012). Daily Life Stress and the Cortisol Awakening Response: Testing the Anticipation Hypothesis. PLoS ONE, 7(12), e52067.

Trier Inventory of Chronic Stress (TICS)

  Schulz, P., Schlotz, W., & Becker, P. (2004). Das Trierer Inventar zum chronischen Stress (TICS) - Manual. Göttingen: Hogrefe. [Manual available in German language only]

The TICS is a standardised scale comprising 57 items for the assessment of different facets of chronic stress. Subjects report how often they experienced a specific situation in the last three months. The TICS comprises ten sub-scales. The sub-scales Work Overload, Social Overload, and Pressure to Perform assess stress resulting from high demands. The sub-scales Work Discontent, Excessive Demands at Work, Lack of Social Recognition, Social Tension, and Social Isolation assess stress resulting from a lack of need satisfaction. In addition, there is a sub-scale Chronic Worrying, and a 12-item Chronic Stress Screening Scale (CSSS), which yields a global score for perceived chronic stress. All scales are consistent with the ordinal Rasch IRT-model.

Additional information:

• TICS bibliography
• The TICS has been translated into English, French, and other languages
• The German version can be purchased from Testzentrale
• For permission to use other language versions please contact the publisher

Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale (PSRS)

The PSRS is a scale that measures stress reactivity as a trait. Using 23 items, the following dimensions are assessed: Reactivity to Failure, to Social Conflict, to Work Overload, and to Social Evaluation, as well as Prolonged Reactivity. In addition, a Perceived Stress Reactivity total score can be computed.

The PSRS is currently available in German and English (UK and USA) language; measurement characteristics are similar. Psychometric properties of the PSRS are reported here:

  Schlotz, W., Yim, I. S., Zoccola, P. M., Jansen, L., & Schulz, P. (2011). The perceived stress reactivity scale: Measurement invariance, stability, and validity in three countries. Psychological Assessment, 23(1), 80-94.

The PSRS is free for use in non-commercial research projects, please use the link below to request a copy of the scale. In your e-mail please shortly describe your planned research project.

Request PSRS via email