Sexual orientation and diurnal cortisol patterns in a cohort of US young adults

PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY

卷:69

Article

Austin, S. Bryn^1,2,3,4  Rosario, Margaret^5,6  McLaughlin, Katie A.⁷  Roberts, Andrea L.⁴  Gordon, Allegra R.¹  Sarda, Vishnudas¹  Missmer, Stacey^2,3,8  Anatale-Tardiff, Laura⁹  Scherer, Emily A.¹⁰ 

[1] Boston Childrens Hosp, Div Adolescent & Young Adult Med, 333 Longwood Ave Room 634, Boston, MA 02115 USA

[2] Brigham & Womens Hosp, Charming Div Network Med, 75 Francis St, Boston, MA 02115 USA

[3] Harvard Univ, Sch Med, Boston, MA USA

[4] Harvard Univ, Dept Social & Behav Sci, TH Chan Sch Publ Hlth, Boston, MA USA

[5] CUNY City Coll, Dept Psychol, New York, NY 10031 USA

[6] CUNY, Grad Ctr, New York, NY USA

[7] Univ Washington, Dept Psychol, Seattle, WA 98195 USA

[8] Harvard Univ, TH Chan Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Epidemiol, Boston, MA USA

[9] Childrens Hosp Philadelphia, Div Infect Dis, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA

[10] Geisel Sch Med Dartmouth, Dept Biomed Data Sci, Hanover, NH USA

关键词: Sexual orientation;    Cortisol;    Diurnal rhythm;    HPA axis;    Stressful life events;    Young adults;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.04.012

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Sexual minorities in the United States are at elevated risk of bullying, discrimination, and violence victimization, all stressors that have been linked to psychological and behavioral stress responses including depressive and anxious symptoms and substance use. Acute and chronic stressors may also elicit physiologic stress responses, including changes in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. Few studies, however, have examined the relationship between minority sexual orientation and diurnal cortisol patterns. The present study included 1670 young adults ages 18-32 years (69% female, 31% male) from the Growing Up Today Study, a prospective cohort of U.S. youth. Participants provided five saliva samples over one day to estimate diurnal cortisol patterns. Sexual orientation groups included: completely heterosexual with no same-sex partners (referent), completely heterosexual with same-sex partners/mostly heterosexual, and gay/lesbian/bisexual. Covariates included perceived stress and stressful life events in the past month. Sex-stratified multilevel models of log-transformed cortisol values were used to model diurnal cortisol patterns, and generalized estimating equations were used to model area under the curve (AUC), both with respect to ground (AUCg) and increase (AUCi). Among females, sexual minorities reported significantly more stressful life events in the past month than their heterosexual counterparts. In adjusted multilevel models, sexual orientation was not significantly associated with diurnal cortisol patterns or with AUCg or AUCi in either females or males. There were no significant interactions between sexual orientation and stressful life events. Time-varying negative mood was significantly associated with higher cortisol levels across the day for both female and male participants, after adjusting for all covariates. This study from a large cohort of U.S. young adults did not detect a relationship between sexual orientation and diurnal cortisol patterns. Despite consistent evidence indicating that, compared to heterosexuals, sexual minorities experience elevated exposure to multiple forms of stressors and adversity across the life course, we did not find differences in diurnal cortisol rhythms by sexual orientation. One possible explanation is that sexual minority participants in the study exhibited physiologic resilience. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

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