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Updated: Mar 6, 2026

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
Does socioeconomic status mediate racial differences in the cortisol response in middle childhood?
Jennifer L Tackett1, Kathrin Herzhoff1, Avanté J Smack1
1Department of Psychology, Northwestern University.
Objective:
Race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status are both associated with stress physiology as indexed by cortisol. The present study tested the extent to which racial/ethnic disparities in cortisol reactivity are explained by socioeconomic status.
Method:
The sample consisted of 296 racially and socioeconomically diverse children ages 8-11 (47% boys). Mothers reported on children's stressors and socioeconomic status; salivary cortisol levels were assessed before and after the Trier Social Stress Test.
Results:
Results demonstrated that racial group differences in cortisol reactivity were partially accounted for by differences in socioeconomic status, but racial group differences in cortisol recovery were not.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that cumulative effects of stress and disadvantage may result in differences in stress response physiology as early as middle childhood, and that race-specific mechanisms account for additional variance in cortisol reactivity and recovery. (PsycINFO Database Record
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