The effect of an environmental stressor on gender differences on the awakening cortisol response

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of an environmental stressor, examination stress, on waking cortisol levels.

Sixty-two subjects were tested upon awakening during periods of low and high examination stress. Samples were collected on 4 sampling days total, two of these days were during a low examination period and two of these days were during a high examination period. During each day, subjects collected salivary samples at waking, 30 min after waking, and 60 min after waking. Subjects also completed three questions asking about their present mood.

As a group, subjects had higher negative mood on the mornings during the high examination stress period than on the mornings during the low examination stress period. Furthermore, when the sex of the subject was considered, cortisol levels were found to be significantly higher in females during the high examination period, but not in males. However, the changes in waking cortisol across the two stress periods were not correlated with the changes in psychological stress across the same sessions for either sex. In conclusion, the waking cortisol was found to be sensitive to the examination stressor protocol, but only in females.

These findings, in conjunction with others, may help to build more comprehensive models of how the two sexes differ in hormonal and psychological stress responses.