Psychological coping styles and cortisol over the day in healthy older adults.

Full Abstract

Patterns of psychological coping are associated with a variety of health outcomes but the underlying pathways are not yet established. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between salivary cortisol output over the course of a day and coping style. Data were available from 350 men and 192 women with an average age of 60.9 years. Participants were drawn from the Whitehall II cohort, and had no history of cardiovascular disease. Individuals who were taking medication that might affect cortisol levels were also excluded. Saliva samples were provided on waking, then 0.5, 2.5, 8 and 12h after waking, and just before the participant went to sleep. Coping style was measured with a standard instrument, the COPE, and data were factor analysed to generate three factors:
seeking social support, problem engagement and problem avoidance. The relationships between these factors and the cortisol awakening response (CAR), the slope of cortisol change over the day and total cortisol output over the day (excluding the waking period) were assessed using multiple linear regression. Cortisol output over the day was inversely associated with coping with stress by seeking social support (p=0.034) and by problem engagement (p=0.003), independently of age, gender, body mass index, smoking, depression, self-rated health, time of waking and income. Individuals who coped by problem engagement and seeking support had lower cortisol levels. Additionally, gender, BMI, smoking, self-rated health and time of waking were independently related to cortisol output over the day. There were no significant associations between coping and the CAR or cortisol slope over the day. The results indicate that adaptive coping styles are related to low levels of cortisol over the day, suggesting that neuroendocrine pathways may partly mediate relationships between psychological coping and health.

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Author information

Author/s: O'Donnell, Katie (K); Badrick, Ellena (E); Kumari, Meena (M); Steptoe, Andrew (A);

Affiliation: Psychobiology Group, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK.

Grants: (Agency:United Kingdom British Heart Foundation) ; (Agency:United Kingdom Medical Research Council)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychoneuroendocrinology (Psychoneuroendocrinology), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jun; vol 33 (issue 5) : pp 601-11

Dates: Created 2008/05/09; Completed 2008/07/08;

PMID: 18329182, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

London
Male
Middle Aged
Problem Solving
Saliva - metabolism
Sex Factors
Smoking - adverse effects
Social Support
Stress, Psychological - metabolism
Workplace

Associated Chemicals: Hydrocortisone (50-23-7)

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