Hair cortisol and self-reported stress in healthy, working adults

Abstract

Chronic stress can be important in the pathology of chronic disease. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) are proposed to reflect long term cortisol secretion from exposure to stress. To date, inconsistencies in the relationship between HCC and self-reported stress have been attributed to variation and limitations of perceived stress measurement. We report data from employees of two large public sector worksites (n=132). Socio-demographic, health, lifestyle, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and work-related Effort Reward Imbalance (ERI) were collected at baseline. Participants were asked to respond to mobile text messages every two days, asking them to report current stress levels (Ecological Momentary Assessment, EMA), and mean stress was determined overall, during work hours, and out of work hours. At 12 weeks, the Appraisal of Stressful Life Events Scale (ALES) was completed and 3cm scalp hair samples were taken, from which HCC was determined (to reflect cortisol secretion over the past 12 weeks). Mean response rate to EMA was 81.9±14.9%. Associations between HCC and the various self-reported stress measures (adjusted for use of hair dye) were weak (all <.3). We observed significant associations with HCC for EMA measured stress responses received out of work hours (ρ=.196, p=.013) and ALES Loss subscale (ρ=.241, p=.003), and two individual items from ERI (relating to future work situation). In regression analysis adjusting for other possible confounders, only the HCC-ALES Loss association remained significant (p=.011). Overall, our study confirms that EMA provides a useful measurement tool that can gather perceived stress measures in real-time. But, there was no relationship between self-reported stress collected in this way, and HCC. The modest association between HCC and stress appraisal does however, provide some evidence for the role of cognitive processes in chronic stress.

Ecological Momentary Assessment in Behavioral Research: Addressing Technological and Human Participant Challenges

“…Inada et al [50] reported a 77.8% retention rate in their 6-month study. Gidlow et al [54] reported on a 12-week EMA study that was focused on stress among 153 healthy working adults that achieved a retention rate of 89.5%, confirming that, similar to our study, high rates of retention can be achieved in longer studies. Several studies that ranged from 4 [55-57] to 8 [58] to 18 weeks [59] did not report retention rates.…”

Hair and stress: A pilot study of hair and cytokine balance alteration in healthy young women under major exam stress

“…We therefor expected major stress to more strongly affect hair biology than highly acute stress paradigms. Populations affected by chronic and severe stress paradigms such as traumatic experience, work related stress or the stress of care giving [30–33] appeared too diverse to meet the requirement of a small, sociobiologically homogeneous pilot sample population. We therefor chose the final exam for German medical students, as a naturalistic paradigm for perceived stress in life [34–37].…”

Police‐Recorded Crime and Disparities in Obesity and Blood Pressure Status in Chicago

“…For instance, excess cortisol secretion, resulting from fear of violent crime, can impair glucose metabolism, promote abdominal fat deposition, and increase vascular reactivity . These physiologic processes can occur unconsciously and may be difficult for individuals to quantify by self‐report . Prior studies have also used self‐reported measures of health, which may lead to significant underestimation of health effects in communities with lower education (eg, poor health literacy) and unreliable access to health care …”

“…14,15 These physiologic processes can occur unconsciously and may be difficult for individuals to quantify by self-report. 16,17 Prior studies have also used self-reported measures of health, 7,10 which may lead to significant underestimation of health effects in communities with lower education (eg, poor health literacy) 18 and unreliable access to health care. 19 Other studies have used objective measures of crime, but they have not examined the different types of crime encountered (eg, violent crime and homicide) or demographic groups targeted (eg, elderly people and women), limiting comparative inference.…”