title: Diurnal salivary cortisol in relation to perceived stress at home and at work in healthy men and women.
abstract: This study investigated the association between diurnal salivary cortisol profile and perceived stress at work and at home. Healthy participants (N=180, 52% women) collected saliva cortisol samples immediately after waking up, 15 min later, 30 min later, and at 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00 and 21:00. The area under the cortisol awakening curve with respect to ground (AUCgCAR) and increase (AUCiCAR), and diurnal slope between 9:00 and 21:00 were analyzed. Perceived stress at work and at home was measured with the Stress-Energy Questionnaire. Participants reporting stress at home had significantly lower AUCgCAR and a flatter diurnal slope. When performing separate analyses for men and women, this association was only significant among women. Perceived stress at work was not associated with any cortisol measure. This study highlights the importance of stress outside the workplace. The sex differences may indicate an increased vulnerability to non-work stress in women.
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Stress Medicine, Gothenburg, Sweden; Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. Electronic address: anna.sjors@vgregion.se.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sjörs
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University and County Council of Jämtland, Sweden.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ljung
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Stress Medicine, Gothenburg, Sweden; Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ingibjörg H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Jonsdottir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Awakening cortisol response; Circadian rhythm; HPA axis; Job stress; Psychosocial stress