Associations Between Sleep and Cortisol Responses to Stress in Children and Adolescents: A Pilot Study

Abstract

A growing body of animal and human research suggests reciprocal associations between sleep and activity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis. However, few studies have examined associations between sleep and stress-induced cortisol responses in children and adolescents. This pilot study examined associations among 3 sleep parameters (sleep-wake behavior problems, daytime sleepiness, sleep quantity) and cortisol responses to stress in 31 participants ages 10 to 17 (15 males, 16 females). During a "rest" session in which participants habituated to the laboratory, daytime sleepiness, sleep-wake behavior problems, and sleep quantity were assessed using a modified Sleep Habits Survey. On a separate day, participants completed a laboratory stress session involving 3 performance stressors. Salivary cortisol was collected during baseline, stress, and recovery periods. Significant associations between participant reported sleep-wake behavior problems and cortisol reactivity were found, with greater sleep-wake behavior problems associated with decreased cortisol responses. No associations emerged between sleep quantity and cortisol responses to stress; daytime sleepiness showed a trend toward an effect on cortisol reactivity. Although preliminary, results suggest there may be important influences of sleep quality but not quantity on HPA regulation and responses to daytime stressors in children and adolescents, and further study is warranted.

Disrupted Sleep the Night Before Breast Surgery Is Associated with Increased Postoperative Pain

“…32 Healthy individuals with lower cortisol responses to laboratory stressors have also been shown to have increased pain sensitivity to standardized challenges following the stressor. 33,34 A separate line of experimental research has demonstrated that poor sleep prior to physical 35 and psychological challenges results in reduced acute cortisol responses, 36,37 which appears to be selective for sleep the night immediately before the challenge. 36 Together, these studies raise the possibility that the physiological response to surgery stress may be important in the relationship between sleep and postoperative pain; although additional research on these mechanisms is clearly needed.…”

Short sleeping time and psychobiological responses to acute stress

“…In addition to these deficits, long-term sleep deprivation has been reported to be associated with dysfunctional immune systems (Palma et al, 2007), particularly in depressive participants with sleep disturbance (Motivala et al, 2005). A recent experiment study by Capaldi et al (2005) revealed blunted cortisol reactivity to an experimental stressor among participants with poor self-reported sleep quality in comparison to those with better sleep quality, although self-reported sleep quantity (hours of sleep) was not related to cortisol activity. Wright et al (2007) also reported that individuals with objectively assessed poor sleep had a blunted response to the experimental stressor, although no associations were found between cortisol activity and self-reported sleep variables.…”

Influence of Mindfulness Practice on Cortisol and Sleep in Long-Term and Short-Term Meditators

“…There is a wealth of evidence showing a close association between increased HPA SA and poor sleep, whether in healthy children [31,32] , adolescents [33] , adults [34] , infants suffering from infantile colic [35] or patients suffering from depressive symptoms [36][37][38] . Consequently, it is conceivable that a similar pattern may be found among adult meditators.…”