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Psychological and Sociodemographic Variables related to Cortisol in Hair in Spanish Healthy Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2020

Laura Arco García ,
Raquel González Pérez ,
Alejandra Henares Extremera ,
María Ángeles García León  and
María Isabel Peralta-Ramírez Open the ORCID record for María Isabel Peralta-Ramírez [Opens in a new window]
Laura Arco García*
Affiliation:
Gabinete Crecer Juntos (Spain)
Raquel González Pérez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
Alejandra Henares Extremera
Affiliation:
TALENTUM Altas Capacidades Intelectuales (Spain)
María Ángeles García León
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
María Isabel Peralta-Ramírez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Granada (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Laura Arco García. Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Center (CIMCYC). Campus de Cartuja S/N, 18071 Granada. Cabinet Crecer Juntos. Granada (Spain). E-mail: laurarco19@gmail.com
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Abstract

Some recent researches have shown the important role of hair cortisol as a retrospective biomarker of chronic stress. The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between hair cortisol levels and sociodemographic and psychological variables, such as perceived stress levels and psychopathological symptoms on a Spanish population. The sample consisted of 347 healthy people, 230 women and 117 men, with an average age of 33.39 years (SD = 12.63). Hair cortisol levels were measured by obtaining a hair sample. In addition, a psychological assessment composed by: Analogic-Visual Stress Scale, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL–90–R) and the assessment of vital stressful events suffered, was carried out. The mean cortisol level was 108.93 pg/mg (SD = 66.43) in men, and 120.38 pg/mg (SD = 87.26) in women. The linear hierarchical regression showed that Analogic-Visual Stress Scale and perceived stress levels were related with higher hair cortisol levels (R2 = .032; t = 2.21; p = .029). Due to the relationship between daily stress levels, Analogic-Visual Stress Scale, anxiety sub-scale of SCL 90–R and perceived stress levels with hair cortisol levels, we conclude that there is a relation between perceived yourself stressed and the physiological levels.

Keywords

cortisol in hairperceived stresspsychological stresspsychopathological symptoms
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 23 , 2020 , e14
Copyright
© Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2020

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Footnotes

This work has been economically supported by the “PSI2015–63494–P” I+D Project of The Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and FEDER- Dr. María Isabel Peralta-Ramírez received the funding.

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