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Cortisol stress resonance in the laboratory is associated with inter-couple diurnal cortisol covariation in daily life
Psychoneuroendocrinology 83S (2017) 1–89
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Psychoneuroendocrinology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psyneuen
Abstracts of the 47th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology Genes and Hormones: Key Factors of Wellbeing Throughout the Life Span 7th–9th September 2017, Zurich, Switzerland
Symposium 1: Women’s health and its association with acute and chronic stress Time: Thursday, 07/Sep/2017: 2:00 pm–3:30 pm Session Chair: Beate Ditzen
Correlation of self-reported stress and mood disorders with hair cortisol and cortisone in women in the first year postpartum – The Ulm SPATZ Health Study
Cortisol stress resonance in the laboratory is associated with inter-couple diurnal cortisol covariation in daily life
Stefanie Braig 1,∗ , Tobias Stalder 2,3 , Clemens Kirschbaum 2 , Dietrich Rothenbacher 1 , Jon Genuneit 1
Veronika Engert ∗ , Amy M. Ragsdale, Tania Singer
1
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany E-mail address: veronika [email protected] (V. Engert). Introduction: In laboratory environments individuals may display empathic cortisol stress responses when observing another experience psychosocial stress. Moreover, within couple dyads, the female partner’s cortisol release may synchronize to the cortisol release of her stressed partner. We investigated whether a woman’s tendency to experience such cortisol stress resonance in a controlled laboratory environment is associated with the degree to which her and her partner’s diurnal cortisol levels covary in a naturalistic environment. Such habitual cortisol covariation may be one pathway via which close relationships influence health outcomes. Methods: Twenty-four male partners completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Their female partners observed the situation. Later, the couples provided diurnal cortisol samples during two nonconsecutive weekdays. Results: Couples covaried in their daily cortisol secretion and the degree of this covariation was associated with the female partner’s empathic cortisol stress resonance in the laboratory. In detail, women in couples showing higher cortisol stress resonance were more closely linked to their partner’s diurnal cortisol secretion. Neither momentary partner presence during sampling nor relationship quality accounted for the association. Conclusions: Since close relationships exert immense influence over individual health outcomes, understanding the association between acute and chronic physiological linkage may provide important insight into the mechanisms by which close relationships impact well-being. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.07.241 0306-4530/
Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Germany 2 Department of Psychology, TU Dresden, Germany 3 Clinical Psychology, University of Siegen, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Braig).
Background: Maternal hair cortisol concentrations are increasingly suggested as a biomarker of chronic stress exposure and may provide further insight into the impact of maternal stress on child development. However, no consistent association between selfreports of stress or mood disorders and hair cortisol was found. Although potentially a more stable marker of systemic glucocorticoid levels, hair cortisone concentrations have less often been investigated in this context. Methods: Maternal self-reported chronic stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed in a birth cohort study recruited from 04/2012 to 05/2013 in Ulm, Germany, from the general population 6 and 12 months postpartum (n = 970 mothers). Maternal hair cortisol and cortisone concentrations were determined at both time points in the scalp-near 3 cm hair segments (n = 515). Spearman correlation coefficients between stress-related constructs and the glucocorticoid levels were calculated. Results: Correlations between stress instruments and cortisol were weak (r ≤ 0.10) at 6 months postpartum with the strongest correlation between symptoms of depression and cortisol (p = 0.02) and r ≤ 0.05 at 12 months postpartum, each p ≥ 0.25. Correlations between hair cortisone and stress-related constructs were similarly low, albeit a statistically significant correlation was revealed between chronic stress and cortisone concentrations (r = 0.10, p = 0.03, 6 months postpartum). Also, changes in symptoms of stress or mood disorders across the two time points were not correlated with changes in hair cortisol or cortisone concentrations.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Psychoneuroendocrinology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psyneuen
Abstracts of the 47th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology Genes and Hormones: Key Factors of Wellbeing Throughout the Life Span 7th–9th September 2017, Zurich, Switzerland
Symposium 1: Women’s health and its association with acute and chronic stress Time: Thursday, 07/Sep/2017: 2:00 pm–3:30 pm Session Chair: Beate Ditzen
Correlation of self-reported stress and mood disorders with hair cortisol and cortisone in women in the first year postpartum – The Ulm SPATZ Health Study
Cortisol stress resonance in the laboratory is associated with inter-couple diurnal cortisol covariation in daily life
Stefanie Braig 1,∗ , Tobias Stalder 2,3 , Clemens Kirschbaum 2 , Dietrich Rothenbacher 1 , Jon Genuneit 1
Veronika Engert ∗ , Amy M. Ragsdale, Tania Singer
1
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany E-mail address: veronika [email protected] (V. Engert). Introduction: In laboratory environments individuals may display empathic cortisol stress responses when observing another experience psychosocial stress. Moreover, within couple dyads, the female partner’s cortisol release may synchronize to the cortisol release of her stressed partner. We investigated whether a woman’s tendency to experience such cortisol stress resonance in a controlled laboratory environment is associated with the degree to which her and her partner’s diurnal cortisol levels covary in a naturalistic environment. Such habitual cortisol covariation may be one pathway via which close relationships influence health outcomes. Methods: Twenty-four male partners completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Their female partners observed the situation. Later, the couples provided diurnal cortisol samples during two nonconsecutive weekdays. Results: Couples covaried in their daily cortisol secretion and the degree of this covariation was associated with the female partner’s empathic cortisol stress resonance in the laboratory. In detail, women in couples showing higher cortisol stress resonance were more closely linked to their partner’s diurnal cortisol secretion. Neither momentary partner presence during sampling nor relationship quality accounted for the association. Conclusions: Since close relationships exert immense influence over individual health outcomes, understanding the association between acute and chronic physiological linkage may provide important insight into the mechanisms by which close relationships impact well-being. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.07.241 0306-4530/
Institute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Germany 2 Department of Psychology, TU Dresden, Germany 3 Clinical Psychology, University of Siegen, Germany E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Braig).
Background: Maternal hair cortisol concentrations are increasingly suggested as a biomarker of chronic stress exposure and may provide further insight into the impact of maternal stress on child development. However, no consistent association between selfreports of stress or mood disorders and hair cortisol was found. Although potentially a more stable marker of systemic glucocorticoid levels, hair cortisone concentrations have less often been investigated in this context. Methods: Maternal self-reported chronic stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed in a birth cohort study recruited from 04/2012 to 05/2013 in Ulm, Germany, from the general population 6 and 12 months postpartum (n = 970 mothers). Maternal hair cortisol and cortisone concentrations were determined at both time points in the scalp-near 3 cm hair segments (n = 515). Spearman correlation coefficients between stress-related constructs and the glucocorticoid levels were calculated. Results: Correlations between stress instruments and cortisol were weak (r ≤ 0.10) at 6 months postpartum with the strongest correlation between symptoms of depression and cortisol (p = 0.02) and r ≤ 0.05 at 12 months postpartum, each p ≥ 0.25. Correlations between hair cortisone and stress-related constructs were similarly low, albeit a statistically significant correlation was revealed between chronic stress and cortisone concentrations (r = 0.10, p = 0.03, 6 months postpartum). Also, changes in symptoms of stress or mood disorders across the two time points were not correlated with changes in hair cortisol or cortisone concentrations.