The effects of an anticipated challenge on diurnal cortisol secretion

Figures & data

Table 1. Mean (SE) psychological, cardiovascular and cortisol measures of reactivity and recovery.

	Pre-stress	Post-stress	+10	+20
Tension	12.57 (0.91)	14.83 (1.06)	11.52 (0.73)	10.96 (0.65)
Depression	12.26 (0.92)	13.26 (1.03)	12.61 (0.94)	12.00 (1.07)
Anger	12.26 (1.13)	12.30 (1.10)	10.96 (0.94)	10.48 (0.84)
Vigor	16.96 (0.86)	15.39 (0.82)*	15.00 (0.85)**	14.74 (0.86)**
Fatigue	9.70 (0.63)	9.48 (0.82)	8.13 (0.54)*	7.74 (0.49)**
Concentration	10.44 (0.63)	11.70 (0.86)	10.13 (0.63)	9.48 (0.62)
Total disturbance	40.83 (3.36)	46.17 (4.00)	38.35 (2.99)	35.91 (2.99)
Heart rate (bpm)	71.74 (1.93)	75.74 (2.94)	73.04 (2.31)	73.09 (2.26)
Systolic blood pressure (mm hg)	115.13 (2.33)	128.04 (2.90)**	117.09 (2.58)	114.48 (2.44)
Diastolic blood pressure (mm hg)	67.30 (1.19)	75.70 (1.82)**	72.22 (1.38)**	70.57 (1.50)**
Salivary cortisol (nmol/l)	7.77 (1.04)		9.63 (1.74)	8.50 (1.41)
Acute Peak					10.23 (1.88)
Acute Reactivity					2.08 (1.43)
Acute AUCG					276.49 (43.82)

NB. +10 min = 10 min following cessation of the task (20 min following onset of social evaluative task/30 min following instructions).

Denotes significant difference from pre-stress: *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.

Table 2. Mean (SE) psychological and cortisol measures at baseline, day 1 and test day.

	Baseline	Day 1 (pre-test)	Test day
Perceived stress**	14.57 (0.99)		17.39 (0.96)
Anxiety	6.35 (0.72)		7.34 (0.78)
Depression	1.87 (0.48)		2.13 (0.40)
Tension*	10.21 (0.74)		12.57 (0.91)
Depression	11.26 (0.89)		12.26 (0.92)
Anger	11.30 (0.77)		12.26 (1.13)
Vigor	17.47 (0.75)		16.96 (0.86)
Fatigue	9.65 (0.70)		9.70 (0.63)
Concentration*	9.09 (0.71)		10.44 (0.63)
Total disturbance	34.09 (0.30)		40.83 (3.36)
Awakening time		08:43 (0:20)	08:28 (0:14)
Salivary cortisol (nmol/l)
Awakening		10.47 (1.08)	11.51 (1.25)
+30**		13.92 (1.34)	18.13 (1.52)
Noon		7.31 (1.15)	8.15 (1.07)
Bedtime		2.60 (0.38)	3.21 (0.86)
Diurnal AUCG*		5058.72 (491.0)	6144.27 (596.4)
CAR AUCG**		365.91 (33.3)	444.64 (34.6)
CAR AUCI		51.58 (16.7)	99.31 (23.8)
CAR mean increase		3.44 (1.12)	6.62 (1.59)
CAR mean output**		12.20 (1.1)	14.82 (1.2)

*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.

Figure 1. Diurnal cortisol profiles on day 1 and test day (SE). **p < 0.01 (CAR peak, CAR AUC_G); *p < 0.05 (Diurnal AUC_G).

Table 3. Correlation coefficients for basal and acute reactivity indices.

	Acute reactivity Indices
	Pre-Stress	Peak	Reactivity	AUCG
Test wake	0.57**	0.36	0.02	0.44*
CAR AUCG	0.59**	0.57**	0.30	0.61**
CAR AUCI	−0.7	0.26	0.40	0.20
Diurnal AUCG	0.91**	0.59**	0.06	0.72**

*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.