The assessment of cortisol in human hair: Associations with sociodemographic variables and potential confounders
The assessment of cortisol in human hair: Associations with sociodemographic variables and potential confounders
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DOI：
10.3109/10253890.2012.654479
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发表时间：
2012-11-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Stalder, T.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Dettenborn, L.;Tietze, A.;Stalder, T.
为了告知未来使用头发皮质醇测量，我们调查了潜在的混杂变量（自然发色，洗发频率，年龄，性别，口服避孕药（OC）使用和吸烟状况）对头发皮质醇水平的影响。主要研究样本包括360名参与者（172名女性），年龄范围广泛（1 - 91岁;平均值= 25.95）。此外，为了更仔细地研究自然发色和年轻年龄对头发皮质醇水平的影响，招募了另外两个样本，包括69名天然金发或深棕色头发的参与者（发色样本）以及28名幼儿和34名成人（年轻年龄样本）。结果显示，自然发色、OC使用和吸烟状况对头发皮质醇水平没有影响（所有p> 0.10）。对于近端毛段，未观察到洗发频率的影响（p = 0.335），但对于第三个毛段，表明皮质醇含量较低（p = 0.008）。我们发现幼儿和老年人的头发皮质醇水平升高（p <0.001）。最后，男性的头发皮质醇水平高于女性（p = 0.002）。目前的数据表明，头发皮质醇测量提供了一个有用的工具，在压力相关的心理生物学研究时，考虑到可能的混杂因素，包括年龄和性别。
To inform the future use of hair cortisol measurement, we have investigated influences of potential confounding variables (natural hair colour, frequency of hair washes, age, sex, oral contraceptive (OC) use and smoking status) on hair cortisol levels. The main study sample comprised 360 participants (172 women) covering a wide range of ages (1-91 years; mean = 25.95). In addition, to more closely examine influences of natural hair colour and young age on hair cortisol levels, two additional samples comprising 69 participants with natural blond or dark brown hair (hair colour sample) as well as 28 young children and 34 adults (young age sample) were recruited. Results revealed a lack of an effect for natural hair colour, OC use, and smoking status on hair cortisol levels (all p's > 0.10). No influence of frequency of hair washes was seen for proximal hair segments (p = 0.335) but for the third hair segment indicating lower cortisol content (p = 0.008). We found elevated hair cortisol levels in young children and older adults (p < 0.001). Finally, men showed higher hair cortisol levels than women (p = 0.002). The present data indicate that hair cortisol measurement provides a useful tool in stress-related psychobiological research when applied with the consideration of possible confounders including age and sex.