Cortisol responses to social evaluation in 10- to 15-year-old boys and girls

Figures & data

Figure 1. Time line of the testing session. The cortisol measurements are marked as C0–C6, and times in minutes from entry into the laboratory are indicated.

Figure 2. Set up computer screen for the SEST. The photograph is derived from the Radboud Faces Database (Langner et al., 2010) and is not of a participant. The position of the photograph on the right changed from the green zone to the red zone during the test. Top left is the alarm light, activated twice during the test.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics and possible confounders of the sample (N = 52).

Variables	Total group (N = 52)	Boys (N = 23)	Girls (N = 29)	p	Age 10–12 (years) (N = 32)	Age 13–15 (years) (N = 20)	p
School type (%)
Primary school	38.46	47.80	31.00		62.50	5
Secondary school	59.62	52.20	65.50		37.50	95
Missing	1.92	0	3.50		0	0
Child's age in years,  mean ± SD (range)	12.5 ± 1.21 (10.3–15.45)	12.3 ± 1.13	12.7 ± 1.2
Child's sex (%)
Boys	44.2	100	0		50	35
Girls	55.8	0	100		50	65
Time of testing,  mean ± SD (range)	15.30 h ± 75 min (12.00–19.00)	15.10 h ±69 min	16.00 h ±73.5 min	*	16.06 h ±77 min	15.20 h ±70 min	*
Means of transportation (%)
Public transport or car	46.15	47.80	48.1		53.10	35
Bicycle	48.08	47.80	51.9		40.60	60
No information	5.77	4.40	0		6.30	5
Δ cortisol (baseline - peak, nmol/l)	0.91 (1.62)	1.70 (2.02)	0.28 (0.79)	†	1.23 (1.86)	0.39 (0.94)	‡
Perceived stress, mean ± SD (range)	4.2 ± 1.32 (1–6.5)	4.2 (1.45)	4.19 (1.24)		4.4 (1.38)	3.9 (1.20)
Credibility, mean ± SD (range)	4.5 ± 1.15 (2–6.7)	4.1 (1.05)	4.77 (1.16)	*	4.5 (1.03)	4.4 (1.35)

Independent samples t-tests showed no significant differences between the groups unless otherwise indicated; *p < 0.05, †p < 0.001, ‡p = 0.07; independent t-tests.

Figure 3. Salivary cortisol concentrations (means ± SEM) over the stress paradigm: pre-stress concentration (lowest of samples 1 and 2), stress concentration (highest of samples 3, 4, and 5), and recovery concentration (sample 6) for the group as a whole (N = 52), for boys (N = 23) and for girls (N = 29). Paired samples t-tests were used to examine the differences between pre-stress level, stress level and recovery level. ***p < 0.001, †p = 0.07.

Figure 4. Salivary cortisol concentrations (means ± SEM) over the social evaluative stress paradigm (SEST) for boys (N = 23; mean increase in cortisol = 163%), and girls (N = 29; mean increase in cortisol = 44%). The gray box indicates the stress phase. Independent samples t-tests were used to examine the difference in the six cortisol measurements between boys and girls. **p < 0.001, *p < 0.05.

Figure 5. Salivary cortisol concentrations (means ± SEM) over the social evaluative stress paradigm (SEST) for 10- to 12-year-olds (N = 32; mean increase in cortisol = 79.8%), and 13- to 15-year-olds (N = 20; mean increase in cortisol = 30.2%). The gray box indicates the stress phase. Independent samples t-tests were used to examine the difference in the six cortisol measurements between age groups. †₁p = 0.06, †₂p = 0.08.

Table 2. Correlations between the actual increase in cortisol concentration and potential confounders for the total group (N = 52), boys (N = 23), and girls (N = 29).

	Sex	Age group	Transport	Time of day	School type	Perceived stress	Credibility
Δ cortisol	−0.39†	−0.26	−0.32*	−0.05	0.00	0.29*	0.07
Δ cortisol boys		−0.13	−0.27	0.40‡	0.21	0.42¶	0.25
Δ cortisol girls		0.07	−0.48*	−0.12	0.75	0.14	0.29

Spearman correlations were used for categorical variables (age group, sex, transport, time ofday, school type). Pearson correlations were applied for continuous variables (perceived stress, credibility). *p < 0.05, ^†p < 0.01, ‡p = 0.06, ¶p = 0.05.

Langner O, Dotsch R, Bijlstra G, Wigboldus DHJ, Hawk ST, van Knippenberg A. (2010). Presentation and validation of the Radboud Faces Database. Cognition Emotion 24(8):1377–88

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