CHESS: Changes in Hormones with Exposure to Student Stress
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2019-08-20
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Abstract
Salivary cortisol levels measure the acute stress response and this daily measurement occurs in two phases: the cortisol awakening response (CAR; 30 minutes after waking) and the diurnal cortisol response (the slope of the trend line associated with the remaining periodic samples throughout the day). Progesterone, one of two female sex hormones associated with the menstrual cycle (MC) is not well documented in terms of the stress cycle. The primary objective of the CHESS study was to prospectively investigate the impact of chronic stress (measured by the Student-Life Stress Inventory) on salivary cortisol and progesterone levels among female undergraduate students (N=19), while controlling for MC phase. Participants displayed blunted CAR, possible hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation manifested in irregular diurnal cortisol patterns, and changes in progesterone levels in response to academic stress. This finding provides a foundation for future studies to examine the relationship between cortisol and progesterone during times of stress.
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Crack, L. E. (2019). CHESS: Changes in Hormones with Exposure to Student Stress (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.