Background: Understanding variability from repeated voice production is vital to using voice production in clinical and research tasks. Voice production may be influenced by a variety of factors. Psychosocial stress, like other psychological stress, causes both psychological and physiological changes. While some evidence shows stress affects voice and speech production, our understanding is quite limited.

Methods: This study measured several voice and speech acoustical variables (fundamental frequency, sound pressure level, cepstral peak prominence, among others) and physiological variables (electrodermal activity, heart rate, blood pressure, among others) in healthy young adults before, during, and after a Trier Social Stress Test. Analyses examined both stress-related differences and individual variability patterns, including potential biological sex differences in stress reactivity.

Results: The test successfully induced changes in self-reported stress levels, skin conductance, heart rate, and blood pressure. Stress caused a lower average vocal level in speech and reading, with increased variability in sound pressure level. Further, voice acoustic parameters significant primarily only in females, who overall responded more strongly to stress than males.

Conclusion: These findings align with previous research suggesting females may react more intensely to stress, especially in laboratory or simulated clinical settings. Other vocal parameter changes due to stress were also observed. These results are important for interpreting speech and voice parameters in clinical voice reports and research, as such environments may inadvertently cause stress, known as the “white coat effect,” in clients or research participants.