Examining multiple sleep behaviors and diurnal salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase: Within- and between-person associations

Abstract

Sleep has been linked to the daily patterns of stress-responsive physiological systems, specifically the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and autonomic nervous system (ANS). However, extant research examining sleep and diurnal patterns of cortisol, the primary end product of the HPA axis, has primarily focused on sleep duration with limited attention on other facets of sleep. For example, it is not clear how specific aspects of sleep (e.g., sleep quality, sleep duration variability) are related to specific components of diurnal cortisol rhythms. Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) has been recognized as a surrogate marker of ANS activity, but limited research has explored relations between sleep and sAA diurnal rhythms. The current study utilized an ecological momentary assessment protocol to examine within- and between-person relations between several facets of sleep behavior using multiple methods (e.g., subjective report, actigraphy) and salivary cortisol and sAA. Older adolescents (N = 76) provided saliva samples and diary entries five times per day over the course of three days. Sleep was assessed via questionnaire, through daily diaries, and monitored objectively using actigraphy over a four day period. Between-person results revealed that shorter average objective sleep duration and greater sleep duration variability were related to lower levels of waking cortisol and flatter diurnal slopes across the day. Within-person results revealed that on nights when individuals slept for shorter durations than usual they also had lower levels of waking cortisol the next day. Sleep was not related to the cortisol awakening response (CAR) or diurnal patterns of sAA, in either between-person or within-person analyses. However, typical sleep behaviors measured via questionnaire were related to waking levels of sAA. Overall, this study provides a greater understanding of how multiple components of sleep, measured in naturalistic environments, are related to cortisol and sAA diurnal rhythms, and how day-to-day, within-person changes in sleep duration contribute to daily variations in cortisol.

Stress experience and performance during an oral exam: the role of self-efficacy, threat appraisals, anxiety, and cortisol

“…Differences in cortisol concentrations could thus be due to differences in wake-up time on the exam day, as compared to the control day, rather than reflecting differences in threat appraisals, anxiety or SE. For instance, previous studies found that participants slept significantly worse in anticipation of an upcoming exam, or experienced earlier/later wake-up times which may have altered the timing of the diurnal cortisol pattern and associated differences in cortisol and anxiety in the current study (van Lenten & Doane, 2016;Baglioni, Spiegelhalder, Lombardo, & Riemann, 2010).…”

Cultural neurobiology and the family: Evidence from the daily lives of Latino adolescents

“…The cortisol awakening response also corresponds with other important circadian processes, including sleep, which are coordinated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (Clow, Hucklebride, Stalder, Evans, & Thorn, 2010). Thus, it is possible that associations between perceptions of social support and the cortisol awakening response may be mediated by other physiological mechanisms, including sleep quality and quantity (Sladek & Doane, 2015; Van Lenten & Doane, 2016). Although beyond the scope of this study, future research should test the daily proximal pathways between global or daily perceptions of parental or other sources of social support, sleep, and diurnal cortisol patterns.…”

Relationship between Cortisol Changes during the Night and Subjective and Objective Sleep Quality in Healthy Older People

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that, independently of the objective sleep quality, the activity of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis is associated with individuals' sleep perceptions [10,[13][14][15][16][17][18]. In this context, it is particularly relevant to investigate the relationship between sleep quality and the change in cortisol levels during the night.…”