The Cortisol Awakening Response and Depressive Symptomatology: The Moderating Role of Sleep and Gender |
| |
| Authors: | Ivan Vargas Stefanie Mayer Nestor Lopez‐Duran |
| |
| Affiliation: | Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | The association between depression and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) has been widely examined, yet the results are mixed and factors responsible for such inconsistencies are poorly understood. The current study investigated whether the link between depressive symptomatology and CAR varied as a function of two such factors: sleep and gender. The sample included 58 young adults (30 females; Mage = 18.7; SDage = 0.91). Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory as well as the Consensus Sleep Diary to assess depressive symptomatology and daily sleep patterns, respectively. Participants also provided four salivary cortisol samples (0, 30, 45 and 60 min after awakening) during two consecutive weekdays. Results demonstrated that greater depressive symptoms were associated with a greater CAR but only when depressive symptoms were linked to a shorter sleep time. In addition, gender significantly moderated the association between depressive symptoms and CAR. While greater depressive symptoms were associated with an elevated CAR among females, they were associated with a blunted CAR among males. These findings provide some insight into potential mechanisms linking depressive symptomatology and CAR, and suggest that future studies examining CAR as a biomarker of depression should account for differences in sleep and gender. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
| |
| Keywords: | depressive symptoms HPA‐axis cortisol awakening response sleep gender |
|
|
