Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Dec;24(4):819-27.
doi: 10.1037/a0017910.

Interindividual differences and intraindividual variability in the cortisol awakening response: an examination of age and gender

David M Almeida  1 , Jennifer R Piazza, Robert S Stawski
Affiliations

Interindividual differences and intraindividual variability in the cortisol awakening response: an examination of age and gender

David M Almeida et al. Psychol Aging. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

This article shows age and gender differences in the magnitude and day-to-day variability of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) using a national sample of 1,143 adults who completed the second wave of the National Study of Daily Experiences, a part of the Midlife Development in the United States survey. Participants between the ages of 33 and 84 years completed 8 consecutive nightly interviews and provided 4 saliva samples (upon waking, 30 min after waking, before lunch, and before bed) on 4 consecutive interview days. Results revealed substantial day-to-day variability in the CAR as well as significant AgexGender interactions, indicating that although no systematic age-related differences emerged for women, the magnitude and day-to-day variability of the CAR increased with age among men.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Actual and Model-Based (Predicted Values) of Morning Cortisol Levels (Error Bars reflect Standard Deviations)
Figure 2a
Figure 2a
Mean CAR as a function of Age and Gender.
Figure 2b
Figure 2b
Intraindividual Variability in CAR as a function of Age and Gender. Predicted Residual (Level 1) Variance estimate is shown on the y-axis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Almeida DM, Kessler RC. Everyday stressors and gender differences in daily distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1998;75:670–680. - PubMed
    1. Almeida DM, Wethington E, Kessler RC. The Daily Inventory of Stressful Events: An interview-based approach for measuring daily stressors. Assessment. 2002;9:41–55. - PubMed
    1. Adam EK, Hawkley LC, Kudielka BM, Cacioppo JT. Day-to-day dynamics of experience-cortisol associations in a population-based sample of older adults. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 2006;103:17058–17063. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bhagwagar Z, Hafizi S, Cowen PJ. Increase in concentration of waking salivary cortisol in recovered patients with depression. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2003;160:1890–1891. - PubMed
    1. Chahal HS, Drake WM. The endocrine system and ageing. Journal of Pathology. 2007;211:179–180. - PubMed

Publication types