Psychosocial stress increases prolactin in men and women
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21621331
Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)
Stressful social interaction can elicit rapid increases in plasma prolactin in males
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2838865
Case-control study: High prolactin associated with reporting more stressful life events
http://www.eje-online.org/content/151/1/61.full.pdf
- Direction of causation not clear.
Rat study: Prolactin reduces anxiety
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1e68/8caedb7e8b5bf59d9e4acc7d3acbd136b036.pdf
This suggests prolactin is produced in response to stress, in order to reduce anxiety.
In women prolactin surges associated with rage and humiliating experiences. Cortisol surges were related to surprise and shock but negatively associated with prolactin.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1026229810876
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smi.2460030311/abstract