Gender roles are related to cortisol habituation to repeated social evaluative stressors in adults: secondary analyses from a randomized controlled trial

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics and between-gender role category contrasts of demographic measures and study condition assignment.

	Full sample		Androgynous		Feminine		Masculine		Undifferentiated
	(n = 86)		(n = 22)		(n = 20)		(n = 20)		(n = 24)
Characteristic	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	N	%	Group comparison statistics
Sex											X^2(3, n = 86) = 5.20
Male	24	(27.9%)	7	(31.8%)	4	(20.0%)	9	(45.0%)	4	(16.7%)
Female	62	(72.1%)	15	(68.2%)	16	(80.0%)	11	(55.0%)	20	(83.3%)
Race											X^2(15, n = 85) = 12.68
Asian	7	(8.2%)	4	(18.2%)	1	(5.3%)	1	(5.0%)	1	(4.2%)
Black/African American	2	(2.4%)	0	(0.0%)	1	(5.3%)	0	(0.0%)	1	(4.2%)
White/Caucasian	71	(83.5%)	16	(72.7%)	17	(89.5%)	17	(85.0%)	21	(87.5%)
Multiracial	2	(2.4%)	1	(4.5%)	0	(0.0%)	1	(5.0%)	0	(0.0%)
Middle Eastern	2	(2.4%)	1	(4.5%)	0	(0.0%)	1	(5.0%)	0	(0.0%)
Other	1	(1.2%)	0	(0.0%)	0	(0.0%)	0	(0.0%)	1	(4.2%)
Ethnicity											X^2(3, n = 83) = 2.69
Hispanic/Latino	4	(4.8%)	0	(0.0%)	1	(5.3%)	2	(11.1%)	1	(4.2%)
Not Hispanic/Latino	79	(95.2%)	22	(100%)	18	(94.7%)	16	(88.9%)	23	(95.8%)
Education level											X^2(15, n = 86) = 24.22^†
High school	7	(8.1%)	5	(22.7%)	0	(0.0%)	1	(5.0%)	1	(4.2%)
Some college	41	(47.7%)	9	(40.9%)	12	(60.0%)	5	(25.0%)	15	(62.5%)
Junior college	4	(4.7%)	1	(4.5%)	2	(10.0%)	1	(5.0%)	0	(0.0%)
Bachelor’s degree	11	(12.8%)	2	(9.1%)	1	(5.0%)	5	(25.0%)	3	(12.5%)
Some graduate school	6	(7.0%)	0	(0%)	3	(15.0%)	2	(10.0%)	1	(4.2%)
Graduate degree	17	(19.8%)	5	(22.7%)	2	(10.0%)	6	(30.0%)	4	(16.7%)
Study condition assignment											X^2(6, n = 86) = 2.95
MBSR	31	(36.0%)	7	(31.8%)	9	(45.0%)	7	(35.0%)	8	(33.3%)
CBT	34	(39.5%)	8	(36.4%)	7	(35.0%)	10	(50.0%)	9	(37.5%)
Waitlist	21	(24.4%)	7	(31.8%)	4	(20.0%)	3	(15.0%)	7	(29.2%)
	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
Age (years)	24.31	7.8	21.59^a	3.88	24.60^b	9.06	29.45^a,b,c	10.67	22.29^c	4.39	F(3,82) = 4.81**

Means with the same letter superscript are significantly different from one another.

MBSR: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction; CBT: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

^†p < .10; *p < .05; **p < .01.

Figure 1. Salivary cortisol as a function of study visit and gender role category. Undifferentiated individuals scored below the median on both masculinity and femininity; feminine individuals scored above the median on femininity and below the median on masculinity; masculine individuals scored above the median on masculinity and below the median on femininity; androgynous individuals scored above the median on both masculinity and femininity. Data shown are unadjusted marginal means estimates of salivary cortisol. Error bars shown correspond to standard errors of mean estimates.

Figure 2. Salivary cortisol as a function of time since stressor onset, laboratory visit, and gender role category. Undifferentiated individuals (panel a) scored below the median on both masculinity and femininity; feminine individuals (panel b) scored above the median on femininity and below the median on masculinity; masculine individuals (panel c) scored above the median on masculinity and below the median on femininity; androgynous individuals (panel d) scored above the median on both masculinity and femininity. Data shown are unadjusted marginal means estimates of salivary cortisol. Error bars shown correspond to standard errors of mean estimates.