Sex differences in impact of daily and chronic psychological stressors on diurnal cortisol level

IF 2.5 3区心理学 Q1 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-02-09 DOI:10.1016/j.pbb.2026.174165

Nikolai Malykhin , Joseph Serrano , Kathleen Hegadoren , Wojciech Pietrasik

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Chronic stress contributes to multiple physical and mental disorders. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the effects of daily and chronic psychological stressors on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function measured by diurnal cortisol levels and rhythms using a community sample of adults experiencing different levels of stress.

78 individuals from the general population were recruited for this study. We measured recent daily stressors, chronic stress (Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress (TICS-E) English version) within the last three months, perceived stress level, mental health outcomes, and salivary cortisol (cortisol awakening response (CAR) and diurnal cortisol slope (DCS)).

We found that increased morning cortisol output and CAR measures were associated with both more recent and chronic stress levels, while larger cortisol decreases in the afternoon, measured by DCS, were linked to chronic stress. The observed relationships among several TICS-E factors and mental health outcomes with both CAR and DCS differed between men and women. The associations between cortisol measures and TICS-E factors related to pressure to perform and social recognition were observed only in males, while associations with social overload and social tension factors were found in both sexes. In female participants higher HPA axis response was linked to increased levels of perceived stress, anxiety, and general distress.

Our results demonstrated for the first time that the HPA axis response to chronic stressors might be context-specific in men and women and that changes in HPA axis function and related mental health outcomes are sex-specific.

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日常和慢性心理应激源对日皮质醇水平影响的性别差异。

慢性压力会导致多种身体和精神障碍。本研究的主要目的是研究日常和慢性心理压力源对下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴功能的影响，测量方法是通过每天的皮质醇水平和节律来测量，研究对象是经历不同水平压力的成年人。这项研究从普通人群中招募了78人。我们测量了最近三个月内的每日压力源、慢性压力（特里尔慢性压力量表（TICS-E）英文版）、感知压力水平、心理健康结果和唾液皮质醇（皮质醇觉醒反应（CAR）和每日皮质醇斜率（DCS））。我们发现，早晨皮质醇输出和CAR测量的增加与近期和慢性压力水平有关，而DCS测量的下午皮质醇下降幅度较大与慢性压力有关。观察到的几个tic - e因素与CAR和DCS的心理健康结局之间的关系在男性和女性之间存在差异。皮质醇测量与表现压力和社会认可相关的tic - e因素之间的关联仅在男性中观察到，而与社会超载和社会紧张因素之间的关联在两性中都发现。在女性参与者中，较高的下丘脑轴反应与感知压力、焦虑和一般痛苦水平的增加有关。我们的研究结果首次证明，下丘脑轴对慢性应激源的反应在男性和女性中可能是情境特异性的，下丘脑轴功能的变化和相关心理健康结果是性别特异性的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 医学-行为科学

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

2.80%

发文量

122

审稿时长

38 days

期刊介绍： Pharmacology Biochemistry & Behavior publishes original reports in the areas of pharmacology and biochemistry in which the primary emphasis and theoretical context are behavioral. Contributions may involve clinical, preclinical, or basic research. Purely biochemical or toxicology studies will not be published. Papers describing the behavioral effects of novel drugs in models of psychiatric, neurological and cognitive disorders, and central pain must include a positive control unless the paper is on a disease where such a drug is not available yet. Papers focusing on physiological processes (e.g., peripheral pain mechanisms, body temperature regulation, seizure activity) are not accepted as we would like to retain the focus of Pharmacology Biochemistry & Behavior on behavior and its interaction with the biochemistry and neurochemistry of the central nervous system. Papers describing the effects of plant materials are generally not considered, unless the active ingredients are studied, the extraction method is well described, the doses tested are known, and clear and definite experimental evidence on the mechanism of action of the active ingredients is provided.