title: A study of cortisol reactivity and recovery among young adolescents: Heterogeneity and longitudinal stability and change.
abstract: The dominance of reactivity-based theories of the cortisol response and lack of attention to cortisol recovery makes it difficult to compile an integrated theory of the stress response. This report examined a reactivity and recovery model of the cortisol response using variable-centered and person-centered approaches. Age and sex differences and heterogeneity in the pattern of cortisol response were examined. Participants were 135 healthy young adolescents participating in a three-wave longitudinal study of puberty and psychological development. At each wave, five saliva-cortisol samples were collected prior to and following a modified Trier Social Stressor Test for Children. Linear, quadratic, and piece-wise models of latent growth curve analyses and latent class analyses were conducted. Age differences in cortisol reactivity and recovery were found at wave 1 and sex differences in cortisol reactivity emerged at wave 3. Meaningful heterogeneity in the pattern of cortisol response was found cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The implications of heterogeneity in the cortisol response during early adolescence for developmental science are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work (EC-207), California State University, Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd, Fullerton, CA, 92831. jji@fullerton.edu.
authors.forename: Juye
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Sonya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Negriff
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hansung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Susman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: cortisol recovery; heterogeneity; latent class analysis; piece-wise growth curve