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Related Experiment Videos

Post-awakening cortisol secretion during basic military training.

A Clow1, S Edwards, G Owen

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW, UK. clowa@wmin.ac.uk

International Journal of Psychophysiology : Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology
|July 26, 2005
PubMed
Summary
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Salivary cortisol levels, a biomarker of stress, decreased during an 11-week intensive training course, despite participants not reporting increased stress. This indicates cortisol

Area of Science:

  • Physiology
  • Endocrinology
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Intensive physical training courses present significant physiological and psychological challenges.
  • Cortisol, a key stress hormone, is often measured in saliva to assess the body's response to stress.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate changes in salivary free cortisol concentrations during an 11-week intensive physical training course.
  • To examine the relationship between cortisol levels and self-reported psychological states (stress, arousal, fatigue) in military recruits.

Main Methods:

  • Salivary cortisol was collected from 12 healthy army recruits at waking, 15, and 30 minutes post-waking at the beginning, middle, and end of the course.
  • Supervised saliva collection ensured adherence to the protocol.
  • Self-rated psychological assessments were conducted in the evenings of sampling days.

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Main Results:

  • A significant main effect of cortisol concentration was observed across sampling points and weeks into the training course.
  • Total cortisol secretion (area under the curve) was significantly lower at weeks 3 and 6 compared to the beginning and end of the course.
  • Despite the demanding nature of the course and a 40% dropout rate, self-reported stress, arousal, and fatigue did not differ significantly across weeks.

Conclusions:

  • Post-awakening salivary cortisol levels are sensitive to prolonged stressful challenges, even when subjective stress reports do not change.
  • The study controlled for confounding variables, including participant adherence, strengthening the findings on cortisol's response to sustained stress.
  • Findings suggest that physiological stress markers like cortisol can reveal responses to challenges not captured by self-report measures.