Title | Hair cortisol concentrations in relation to ill-being and well-being in healthy young and old females |
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Authors | Smyth, N., Bianchin, M., Thorn, L., Hucklebridge, F., Kirschbaum, C., Stalder, T. and Clow, A. |
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Abstract | Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) provides a retrospective measure of long-term (i.e. over a period of months) cortisol secretion and has been shown to be elevated in relation to chronic stress conditions. However associations in healthy participants with subjective ill-being are less clear and associations with well-being have not been explored. The current study examined HCC in relation to independent comprehensive measures of illbeing (stress, depression, anxiety) and well-being (subjective happiness, life satisfaction, psychological wellbeing) in healthy young and old females (mean ± SD: 19.5 ± 2.2 years and 78.6 ± 6.7 years respectively, total N = 115). The data supported evidence of increased total cortisol secretion with increased age. No association between ill-being and HCC was found in either the young or older group of participants. A positive association between HCC and well-being was found in the older participant group which was independent of ill-being and potential confounds. These findings do not support associations between HCC and ill-being in healthy young or old females. However the results suggest that HCC is able to distinguish levels of well-being in healthy older females. |
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Keywords | Hair cortisol concentration HCC Age Females Well-being Ill-being |
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Journal | International Journal of Psychophysiology |
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Journal citation | 102, pp. 12-17 |
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ISSN | 0167-8760 |
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Year | 2016 |
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Publisher | Elsevier |
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Accepted author manuscript | |
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Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2016.03.001 |
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Publication dates |
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Published | 03 Mar 2016 |
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Funder | BIAL |
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