Stress‐Induced Cortisol, Mood, and Fat Distribution in Men

Epel, E.; Moyer, Anne; Martin, Chloé Drake; Macary, Susan J.; Cummings, Nancy P.; Rodin, Judith; Rebuffé-Scrive, Marielle

doi:10.1002/j.1550-8528.1999.tb00385.x

Cited by 50 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…22 However, it should also be noted that cortisol responses to acute mental stress have been consistently related to waist/hip ratio in studies of women, 12,40,41 but in men one study observed such an effect while another did not. 14,42 This study has several limitations. The sample consisted of working men and women of Caucasian origin within a limited age range, and results may not generalise to other groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Central adiposity and cortisol responses to waking in middle-aged men and women

et al. 2004

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OBJECTIVE: Central obesity is associated with disturbances of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis function. We investigated whether central adiposity indexed by waist/hip ratio is related to cortisol responses to waking and other measures of salivary cortisol over the working day. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 89 men and 83 women aged 47-59 y recruited from the British civil service. All were members of the Whitehall II epidemiological cohort. METHODS: Saliva samples were collected on waking, 30 min later, and then at 2-h intervals from 0800-0830 to 2200-2230. A strict procedure for excluding individuals who did not adhere to the sampling schedule was applied. RESULTS: Waist/hip ratio in men was positively correlated with the cortisol response to waking (30 minFwaking value) after adjusting for age, socioeconomic position, smoking status, alcohol consumption, time of waking, and cortisol level on waking (r ¼ 0.29, P ¼ 0.009). The cortisol response to waking was negatively related to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (r ¼ À0.25) and positively with total/HDL cholesterol ratio (r ¼ 0.25). Associations between the decline in cortisol over the day and waist/hip ratio, HDL cholesterol and total/HDL cholesterol ratios were also significant. No associations were significant in women, and body mass index was unrelated to cortisol. CONCLUSIONS: The cortisol response to waking is a dynamic indicator of HPA function that has previously been related to chronic psychological stress. These results confirm a recent Swedish study, and indicate that cortisol responses to waking may be indicative of neuroendocrine disturbance in central obesity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Central adiposity and cortisol responses to waking in middle-aged men and women

et al. 2004

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“…Another potential mediator is psychological stress. Evidence from animal models, 37 and more recently from human studies, 38,39 suggests that stress may influence metabolism and body fat distribution. It is plausible that different social groups may be subject to different levels of psychosocial stress (for instance, low employment grade has been linked with increased psychological distress) and this could contribute to increased risk of obesity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social factors and obesity: an investigation of the role of health behaviours

2003

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OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated a behavioural model of the relation between social factors and obesity, in which differences in body mass index (BMI) across sociodemographic groups were hypothesized to be attributable to social group differences in health behaviours affecting energy expenditure (physical activity, diet and alcohol consumption and weight control). METHODS: A total of 8667 adults who participated in the 1995 Australian National Health and Nutrition Surveys provided data on a range of health factors including objectively measured height and weight, health behaviours, and social factors including family status, employment status, housing situation and migration status. RESULTS: Social factors remained significant predictors of BMI after controlling for all health behaviours. Neither social factors alone, nor health behaviours alone, adequately explained the variance in BMI. Gender-specific interactions were found between social factors and individual health behaviours. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that social factors moderate the relation between BMI and weight-related behaviours, and that the mechanisms underlying sociodemographic group differences in obesity may vary among men and women. Additional factors are likely to act in conjunction with current health behaviours to explain variation in obesity prevalence across sociodemographic groups.

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“…Personality and coping could therefore have important bearing on the hypothesis that an inability to handle stress might be one factor leading to hypersensitivity in the HPA axis, setting off neuroendocrine and metabolic disturbances. [36][37][38] Such disturbances may result in greater central fat accumulation that in turn is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and diabetes type 2. This is a topic for future research.…”

Section: Personality Traits Among Obese a Rydén Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

Severe obesity and personality: a comparative controlled study of personality traits

et al. 2003

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OBJECTIVE:The primary purpose was to assess personality trait differences between the severely obese seeking treatment and a mainly non-obese reference group. We also investigated gender differences and differences between obese patients and obese not seeking treatment. METHOD: Personality traits were assessed using 7 of 15 scales from the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP): Somatic Anxiety, Muscular Tension, Psychastenia, Psychic Anxiety, Monotony Avoidance, Impulsiveness, and Irritability. Patients from the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) intervention study (n ¼ 3270, ages 37-57, 71% women) and the SOS reference study (n ¼ 1135, 54% women) completed the survey. Data presented in this study were gathered prior to treatment. Significance tests and effects sizes were calculated. RESULTS: Although statistically significant differences were found between obese patients and reference subjects on nearly all personality traits, effect sizes were at most moderate. Of the three scales with moderate effects sizes, differences on Somatic Anxiety and Psychastenia could be traced to items tapping condition-specific symptoms, e.g., problems with sweating and breathing as indicators of Somatic Anxiety. Moderate differences on the Impulsiveness scale (men alone) could not be explained by item composition. Further, the obese patients differed from obese in the reference group, and both obese and reference women reported significantly higher levels on Somatic Anxiety, Muscular Tension and Psychic Anxiety compared to men (effect size: small). CONCLUSIONS: Our results provided no evidence of a general obese personality profile, instead considerable heterogeneity in personality traits was observed across our obese samples (treatment seekers vs non-seekers, men vs women) and generally only small differences were noted compared to a reference study population. Further research is needed to investigate if the somewhat elevated levels of Impulsiveness, particularly among male obese patients, is affected by weight loss. When assessing personality traits in diseased groups consideration should be given to possible confounding from, e.g., somatic symptoms.

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Stress‐Induced Cortisol, Mood, and Fat Distribution in Men

Cited by 50 publications

References 36 publications

Central adiposity and cortisol responses to waking in middle-aged men and women

Central adiposity and cortisol responses to waking in middle-aged men and women

Social factors and obesity: an investigation of the role of health behaviours

Severe obesity and personality: a comparative controlled study of personality traits

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