title: Baseline cortisol moderates testosterone reactivity to women's intercollegiate athletic competition.
abstract: Recent research suggests that cortisol (C) level moderates testosterone (T) reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in men. The extent to which C moderates T reactivity in other circumstances and in women is not known. In this retrospective study, before- and after-competition salivary levels of C and T from 97 intercollegiate women athletes competing in one of four different sports (soccer, volleyball, softball, tennis) were used to evaluate the influence of before-competition C level on T reactivity in women's athletic competition. Athletic competition was associated with a substantial increase in salivary levels of C and T in the vast majority of athletes. Before-competition level of C significantly moderated testosterone reactivity to athletic competition - women with relatively low levels of C showed larger increases in T to competition than women with higher levels of C. Clearly, the moderating effect of C on T reactivity is not limited to laboratory settings intended to increase social stress, but is also seen in (as we show here) the context of athletic competition.
authors: Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States. Electronic address: edwards@emory.edu.
authors: David A
authors: DA
authors: Edwards
authors: Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, United States.
authors: Kathleen V
authors: KV
authors: Casto
mesh_terms: D056352:Athletes; D001484:Baseball / Q000502:physiology; D003163:Competitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D012916:Soccer / Q000502:physiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism; D013715:Tennis / Q000502:physiology; D013739:Testosterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D014495:Universities; D054798:Volleyball / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Athletic competition; Cortisol; Social stress; Testosterone