The study was conducted in Hamburg and Marburg (Germany) as a randomized repeated measures design. Participants with psychotic disorders (PSY) were compared to healthy persons with attenuated positive symptoms (AS), first-degree relatives of persons with psychotic disorders (REL), participants with depression (DEP) and healthy controls (HC) in regard to subjective stress ratings, psychophysiological parameters (HR, SCL and cortisol) and psychotic symptoms within a no stress, a noise stress and a social stress condition. Subjective stress-ratings and psychophysiological stress parameters were assessed prior to each condition (baseline) and five additional times within each condition (compare Fig. 1). Symptoms were assessed at the end of each condition, while the stressors were still present.