Stability of diurnal cortisol measures across days, weeks, and years across middle childhood and early adolescence: Exploring the role of age, pubertal development, and sex.

ABSTRACT: Effective regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) has been linked to numerous health outcomes. Within-person variation in diurnal measures of HPA-axis regulation assessed over days, months, and years can range between 50-73% of total variation. In this study of 59 youth (ages 8-13), we quantified the stability of the cortisol awakening response (CAR), the diurnal slope, and tonic cortisol concentrations at waking and bedtime across 8 days (2 sets of 4 consecutive days separated by 3 weeks), 3 weeks, and 3 years. We then compared the stability of these indices across three key developmental factors: age, pubertal status, and sex. Youth provided 4 saliva samples per day (waking, 30 min post-waking, before dinner, and before bedtime) for 4 consecutive days during the

SUBMITTER: Kuhlman KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6333497 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature