Stress, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and cortisol patterns in working parents

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Abstract
Whether stress or psychological distress is associated with alterations in diurnal cortisol secretion patterns in healthy adults is still uncertain. In this study, the authors tested for associations between stress or symptoms of depression or anxiety and changes in diurnal cortisol patterns in 91 working parents (57 women and 34 men) across the United States. Saliva samples were collected for cortisol analysis at six timepoints over 2 days. The diurnal cortisol slope and time‐weighted average cortisol levels were analysed in relation to (1) two survey measures of stress, (2) diary reports of stress during cortisol sampling, and (3) self‐reported depression and anxiety. Cortisol slopes and average cortisol levels varied widely across individuals and within individuals across days. Only two of the 24 associations between stress or psychological symptoms and cortisol were significant at the p < 0.05 level; men with more severe symptoms of anxiety had significantly higher average cortisol levels and women who reported that work was more frequently stressful had significantly lower average cortisol levels. These results highlight the variability of diurnal cortisol secretion patterns in healthy adults and suggest that neither stress nor psychological symptomatology is a strong determinant of differences in diurnal cortisol patterns in healthy individuals. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.