Response variability of salivary cortisol among older adults under psychological stress

Abstract

In this study, a quasi-experimental design with repeated measures was used to compare anxious (n = 129) and nonanxious (n = 186) older adults on the cortisol secretion rate attributable to an experimental stressor. Our results support the hypothesis that a first-order longitudinal factor model appropriately describes the cortisol concentration in three saliva samples collected at two experimental times. The model tested explained between 82.6 and 98.0% of the variance in cortisol concentration of the respondent's saliva samples at T1, and between 55.4% and 78.4% at T2. In the nonanxious group ((State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) STAI < 42), the magnitude of the experiment-related cortisol reactivity was, respectively 51 and 33% higher than the respondent's baseline reactivity level at both T1 and T2. By contrast, in the anxious group (STAI >or= 42), our results showed no significant gradient in the magnitude of the cortisol reactivity at either time. This result was interpreted to be in agreement with the helplessness reaction hypothesis. These results suggest that salivary cortisol is a valid measure that is sensitive to experimental stress, and may therefore, be useful in examining physiological response to stress.

Trait anxiety and post-learning stress do not affect perceptual learning

“…Since our experiment was conducted in the afternoon, it may explain why we did not find any difference in basal cortisol levels. However, our results are also in line with many other studies reporting no modulation of basal cortisol levels by trait anxiety (Francis, 1981;Preville et al, 2008;Schlotz et al, 2006;Singh, Petrides, Gold, & Deuster, 1999;Takai et al, 2007).…”

“…These areas have a high concentration of glucocorticoid receptors and are strongly influenced by stress-induced elevation of cortisol levels (Het et al, 2005;Joels et al, 2006;Maheu, Collicut, et al, 2005;Roozendaal, 2002;Sandi, 1998;Sandi & Pinelo-Nava, 2007;Shors, 2004). Accordingly, high trait anxiety has been linked to elevated stress responses (Duncko et al, 2006;Hubert & de, 1992;Oswald et al, 2006;Preville, Zarit, Susman, Boulenger, & Lehoux, 2008) and increased basal cortisol levels (Jezova et al, 2004;Takahashi et al, 2005;Taylor et al, 2008). However, we found no significant relation between trait anxiety and responsiveness to stress nor between trait anxiety and basal cortisol levels (Fig.…”

“…4A). Previous studies mainly used non-physiological stressors to investigate stress responsiveness, for example, psycho-social stressors (Oswald et al, 2006;Preville et al, 2008) or uncomfortable video clips (Hubert & de, 1992). Hence, participants with high-trait anxiety may be highly responsive to psychological stress but less responsive to physiological stress.…”

Cortisol and alpha amylase reactivity and timing of puberty: Vulnerabilities for antisocial behaviour in young adolescents

“…For instance, low basal, maternal prenatal cortisol levels predicted difficult infant temperament in three-year-old children (Susman et al, 2001). At the older end of the life span, higher basal cortisol levels were related to cognitive declines (Seeman et al, 1997; Kudielka et al, 2004) and exaggerated cortisol reactivity (Préville et al, 2008). In addition, non-invasively collected salivary cortisol and its links to emotions and behaviours have been extensively validated in laboratory settings (Kirschbaum et al, 1992; Schwartz et al, 1998; Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004).…”

Stress reactivity in young marmosets (Callithrix geoffroyi): Ontogeny, stability, and lack of concordance among co-twins

“…Most, but not all, studies on human participants show moderate to relatively high intra-individiual consistency among multiple measures of HPA function, including baseline cortisol (CORT; Flinn, 2009; Hamer et al, 2006), stress reactivity to physical or psychological stressors (Berger et al, 1987; Cohen et al, 2000; Leung et al. ; PrÈville et al, 2008), responses to dexamethasone/corticotropin releasing hormone (DEX/CRH) challenge (Modell et al, 1998; Watson et al, 2005), and the cortisol awakening response (CAR; Hellhammer et al, 2007; Thorn et al, 2009). However, several studies report a lack of significant individual stability in multiple components of the HPA response, including baseline CORT in samples collected six weeks apart (Kirschbaum et al, 1990), CORT reactivity to two public speaking stressors separated by 4 weeks (Hamer et al, 2006), and DEX/CRH responding in high-risk psychiatric patients tested at a 4 year interval (Modell et al, 1998).…”