Self-Perceived Stress and Heart Rate Variability in Response to Cognitive Load and Induced Stress

This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. Self-Perceived Stress and Heart Rate Variability in Response to Cognitive Load and Induced Stress Abstract Work-related cognitive stress has been on a global rise throughout the 20th and 21st century, having led to increasing numbers of mental and somatic health issues and decline in overall wellbeing. While the negative effects of chronic work-related stress have been recognized, a proportion of previous research indicates that sole cognitive load (arousal) may contribute to the overall psychological load and hinder the required daily recovery. In this study, we aim to evaluate the individual’s response to cognitive stress and arousal in a work-like simulated setting by assessing direct stress and indirect stress and arousal checklist questionnaires, and autonomic nervous system tone derived from heart rate variability (HRV) data. We evaluate the coherence within the individuals’ ( N = 40 ) self-assessment of the stressfulness of three test phases, designed to induce relaxation, sole cognitive load, and cognitive stress. We also aim to classify each test phase directly from the HRV-derived metrics using machine learning and investigate the psychological and physiological response correlations. The results suggest that there is a disparity between the self-evaluated stress and HRV-derived sympathetic tone. Moreover, there is only moderate correlation between the two stress questionnaires, indicating that stress self-assessment may not be accurate nor reflect physiological responses consistently. Combined cognitive alertness (arousal and stress) could be classified reliably from relaxation test phase whilst stress and arousal phases could not be distinguished in the tripartite classification scheme. Although the implications of this study cannot be interpreted unequivocally due to disparity between subjective assessments and test phases as response variables, the results nevertheless support the prevailing view on the shortcomings in stress self-assessment, and the similarity in physiological responses between cognitive arousal and stress. Supplementary Material File (manuscript.docx) - Download - 518.07 KB Information & Authors Information Version history Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Authors Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 155views 89downloads Citations Download citation Otso Arponen, Hannu Nieminen, Tomppa Pakarinen. Self-Perceived Stress and Heart Rate Variability in Response to Cognitive Load and Induced Stress. Authorea. 11 September 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175760862.23983260/v1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175760862.23983260/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.