Diurnal cortisol profiles and subjective well-being: Longitudinal associations among children and adolescents

Abstract

There has been evidence suggesting that cortisol is related to subjective well-being. (i.e., positive affect, negative affect, life satisfaction). However, longitudinal associations between diurnal cortisol and subjective well-being remain inadequately explored, and less is known about how combinations of multiple diurnal cortisol indicators may impact subjective well-being. To address these gaps, the current study revealed heterogeneity in diurnal cortisol patterns and examined whether these diurnal cortisol patterns were prospectively associated with subjective well-being six months and one year later among 304 Chinese children and adolescents aged 9–13 (M_age = 10.80, SD = 0.84; 67.1 % boys). Latent profile analysis, a person-centered approach, was conducted using multiple diurnal cortisol indicators (i.e., waking cortisol level, cortisol awakening response, diurnal cortisol slope, area under the curve, and bedtime cortisol level), and identified four distinct diurnal cortisol patterns: steep/medium (57.6 %), moderate/high (25.7 %), flat/high (10.5 %), and steep/low (6.2 %). The flat/high pattern, characterized by sustained elevated cortisol levels throughout the day, was associated with impaired subjective well-being six months and one year later. The moderate/high pattern, which had the same waking cortisol level as the flat/high pattern but demonstrated lower cortisol awakening response and steeper diurnal cortisol slope, was associated with more negative affect six months later. These findings facilitate understanding the heterogeneity in diurnal cortisol rhythm and their implications to subjective well-being over time, which may support targeted psychosocial interventions for promoting subjective well-being among children and adolescents.