Exogenous testosterone enhances cortisol and affective responses to social-evaluative stress in dominant men.

ABSTRACT: Stress often precedes the onset of mental health disorders and is linked to negative impacts on physical health as well. Prior research indicates that testosterone levels are related to reduced stress reactivity in some cases but correlate with increased stress responses in other cases. To resolve these inconsistencies, we tested the causal influence of testosterone on stress reactivity to a social-evaluative stressor. Further, prior work has failed to consider status-relevant individual differences such as trait dominance that may modulate the influence of testosterone on responses to stressors. Participants (n=120 males) were randomly assigned to receive exogenous testosterone or placebo (n=60 testosterone treatment group) via topical gel prior to a well-validated social-evaluative stres

SUBMITTER: Knight EL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5798202 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature