Socioeconomic Status, Race, and Diurnal Cortisol Decline in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study

Cohen, Sheldon; Schwartz, Joseph E.; Epel, Elissa S.; Kirschbaum, Clemens; Sidney, Steve; Seeman, Teresa E.

doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000195967.51768.ea

Cited by 354 publications

(407 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Since AA adults show worse health status at each stage of adulthood than their White counterparts (37-39) the former group may be especially vulnerable to the perils of caregiver stress. For instance, young AA adults show flatter daily cortisol slopes than their White counterparts (35). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The values for each time point were also evaluated but will not be included in the current paper for the sake of simplicity in analytical focus. More positive values which signify flatter daily cortisol slopes imply increased risk for chronic disease (35). Correlational analyses were run for cortisol response, sociodemographic, caregiving and psychosocial variables.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Too Much of a Good Thing?: Positive Religious Coping Predicts Worse Diurnal Salivary Cortisol Patterns for Overwhelmed African American Female Dementia Family Caregivers

Merritt

McCallum

2013

The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

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Objectives Religious coping arguably prevents negative health outcomes for stressed persons. This study examined the moderating role of religious coping (positive, negative, and combined) in the connection of care recipient functional status with diurnal salivary cortisol patterns among dementia family caregivers. Methods Thirty African-American (AA) female dementia caregivers and 48 AA noncaregivers completed the Religious Coping (RCOPE) scale, Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale and Revised Memory and Behavior Problem checklist (RMBPC) and collected five saliva samples daily (at awakening, 9am, 12pm, 5pm, and 9pm) for two straight days. Results Hierarchical regression tests with mean diurnal cortisol slope as the outcome illustrated surprisingly that higher combined and positive (but not negative) RCOPE scores were associated with increasingly flatter or worse cortisol slope scores for caregivers (but not non-caregivers). Of note, the RCOPE by RMBPC interaction was significant. Among caregivers who reported higher RMBPC scores, higher combined and positive (but not negative) RCOPE scores were unexpectedly associated with increasingly flatter cortisol slopes. Conclusions These results extend current findings by showing that being AA, a caregiver, and high in positive religious coping may predict increased daily stress responses, mainly for those with higher patient behavioral problems. Since religious coping is a central coping strategy for AA caregivers, it is vital that epidemiological assessments of religious coping in health and aging as well as tailored interventions focus on the unique reasons for this disparity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Too Much of a Good Thing?: Positive Religious Coping Predicts Worse Diurnal Salivary Cortisol Patterns for Overwhelmed African American Female Dementia Family Caregivers

Merritt

McCallum

2013

The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

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“…For instance, lower levels of morning cortisol have been described among blacks compared with whites, while accounting for perceived stress (Bennett et al, 2004). There is also evidence that race and ethnicity influences the diurnal variations in cortisol (Cohen et al, 2006;Gallagher-Thompson et al, 2006;McCallum et al, 2006). For instance, one study reported that blacks exhibit a flatter cortisol rhythm at the end of the day relative to whites, independent of socioeconomic status (Cohen et al, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is also evidence that race and ethnicity influences the diurnal variations in cortisol (Cohen et al, 2006;Gallagher-Thompson et al, 2006;McCallum et al, 2006). For instance, one study reported that blacks exhibit a flatter cortisol rhythm at the end of the day relative to whites, independent of socioeconomic status (Cohen et al, 2006). Similarly, another study showed that black females have flatter cortisol slopes during the day compared with their white counterparts (McCallum et al, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, cortisol levels upon waking have been shown to be higher among highereducated whites compared with blacks and lower educated whites (Bennett et al, 2004). Another study has suggested that blacks experience a less steep decline in cortisol during the course of the day, even after accounting for differences in socioeconomic status (Cohen et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Whites have a more robust hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis response to a psychological stressor than blacks

Chong¹,

Uhart²,

McCaul³

et al. 2008

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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SummaryObjective-Differences in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to stress may confer differences in susceptibility to a variety of diseases. We hypothesized that whites would differ from blacks in HPA axis response to a psychological stressor.Design-Healthy subjects aged 18-30 were recruited from Baltimore, Maryland. At initial assessment, they completed psychometric tests measuring anxiety, mood, and personality. Subjects then participated in the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), which consisted of 10 min of public speaking and mental arithmetic exercises. Subjective anxiety was measured immediately pre-and post-TSST. Race effects on cortisol, adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH), and prolactin responses to the TSST were analyzed by GEE longitudinal analysis methods. The analysis controlled for gender, baseline hormone levels, socioeconomic factors, anxiety, mood, and dimensions of personality.Results-Ninety-eight subjects participated in the TSST. Whites had 36% greater relative mean cortisol response than blacks (95% CI: 10%-67%, P = 0.004). Whites had significantly higher mean ACTH compared to blacks at 25 min after the start of the TSST, (35%, 95% CI: 16%-58% greater, P < 0.001). There was no difference in prolactin response. Of note, whites and blacks did not differ in subjective anxiety response to the TSST.Conclusions-In sum, we found that whites have a more robust HPA axis response to the TSST compared with blacks, even after controlling for several socioeconomic and psychological factors. In contrast, we observed no difference in prolactin response. There were no differences in subjective response to the TSST to explain the difference in HPA axis response. Further study is indicated to explain this finding and to test whether it can be extrapolated to other forms of stress.

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Physical Health in Adolescent Girls with Antisocial Behavior

Pajer

Lourie

Leininger

2011

Understanding Girls' Problem Behavior

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Socioeconomic Status, Race, and Diurnal Cortisol Decline in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study

Cited by 354 publications

References 32 publications

Too Much of a Good Thing?: Positive Religious Coping Predicts Worse Diurnal Salivary Cortisol Patterns for Overwhelmed African American Female Dementia Family Caregivers

Too Much of a Good Thing?: Positive Religious Coping Predicts Worse Diurnal Salivary Cortisol Patterns for Overwhelmed African American Female Dementia Family Caregivers

Whites have a more robust hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis response to a psychological stressor than blacks

Physical Health in Adolescent Girls with Antisocial Behavior

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