Stability of diurnal cortisol measures across days, weeks, and years across middle childhood and early adolescence: Exploring the role of age, pubertal development, and sex.

Effective regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) has been linked to numerous health outcomes. Within-person variation in diurnal measures of HPA-axis regulation assessed over days, months, and years can range between 50-73% of total variation. In this study of 59 youth (ages 8-13), we quantified the stability of the cortisol awakening response (CAR), the diurnal slope, and tonic cortisol concentrations at waking and bedtime across 8 days (2 sets of 4 consecutive days separated by 3 weeks), 3 weeks, and 3 years. We then compared the stability of these indices across three key developmental factors: age, pubertal status, and sex. Youth provided 4 saliva samples per day (waking, 30 min post-waking, before dinner, and before bedtime) for 4 consecutive days during the 3rd week of an ongoing 8-week daily diary study. Youth repeated this same sampling procedure 3 weeks and 3 years later. Using multi-level modeling, we computed the amount of variance in diurnal HPA-axis regulation that was accounted for by nesting an individual's diurnal cortisol indices within days, weeks, or years. Across days, diurnal slope was the most stable index, whereas waking cortisol and CAR were the least stable. All indices except bedtime cortisol were similarly stable when measured across weeks, and all indices were uniformly stable when measured across 3 years. Boys, younger participants, and youth earlier in their pubertal development at study enrollment exhibited greater HPA-axis stability overall compared with females and older, more physically mature participants. We conclude that important within- and between-subjects questions can be answered about health and human development by studying HPA-axis regulation, and selection of the index of interest should be determined in part by its psychometric characteristics. To this end, we propose a decision tree to guide study design for research in pediatric samples by longitudinal timeframe and sample characteristics

Work and Family Roles and Women's Mental Health

The present study relates mental health to characteristics of work and family roles in a small sample of employed female clerical workers who are married and/or have children living at home. The main goals of the investiga- tion are (a) to examine the separate and joint influence of qualities of work and family roles on women's mental health, and b) to explore conditions under which the effects of work and family roles are maximized

Social Factors in the Workplace and Mental Health

ABSTRACT Previous research has suggested that satisfying inters rsonal relationships help promote psychological well-being. This study examined the influence that social relations at work have on the individual's mental health. Data were col: acted in two phases. In phase 1, a volunteer sample of nonmanagerial employees (N=302) from 37 bank branches rated the social environment at their work settings by completing a Social Environmental Survey. In phase 2, an all-female 'olunteer subsample (Y=70) completed an additional questionnaire measuring psychological well-be!ag. The results indicated that the quality of the social environment in bank branches was related to the psychological well-being of employees in the settings. Coworkers' average ratings of the common social environment were significantly correlated with two indices of individual employees' mental health, depression, and anxiety. Self-esteem was not a3 strongly related to the quality of the social environment as were deprecsion and anxiety. An enhanced psychological significance to relationships with supervisors compared to relationships with coworkers was demonstrated. Practical applications of this research suggest that clinicians should consider the significant impact of the social environment at work and that organizations should realize the influence supervisors exJrt on the well being of employees. (References are included.) (ABL) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied ay EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************y****k****** Results indicated that the quality of the social environment at work is related to the mental health of employees. More importantly, the relat!onship was confirmed using an independent measure of the social environment. Individuals' scores on depression and anxiety scales were significantly correlated with their coworkers' average rating of the common social environment

Short‐Term Resilience Processes in the Family

The authors review naturalistic studies of short-term processes that appear to promote resilience in children in the context of everyday family life and argue that warm and supportive family interactions foster resilience through their cumulative impact on children's emotional and physiological stress response systems. In the short-term, these family interactions promote the experience and expression of positive emotion and healthy patterns of diurnal cortisol. Over time, these internal resources - a propensity to experience positive emotion and a well-functioning hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis system -enhance a child's capacity to avoid, or limit, the deleterious effects of adversity. This article highlights naturalistic research methods that are well suited to the study of these short-term resilience processes and points to clinical applications of our conceptual and methodological approach

Negative and Positive Emotion Responses to Daily School Problems: Links to Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

Examining emotion reactivity and recovery following minor problems in daily life can deepen our understanding of how stress affects child mental health. This study assessed children's immediate and delayed emotion responses to daily problems at school, and examined their correlations with psychological symptoms. On 5 consecutive weekdays, 83 fifth graders (M = 10.91 years, SD = 0.53, 51% female) completed brief diary forms 5 times per day, providing repeated ratings of school problems and emotions. They also completed a one-time questionnaire about symptoms of depression, and parents and teachers rated child internalizing and externalizing problems. Using multilevel modeling techniques, we assessed within-person daily associations between school problems and negative and positive emotion at school and again at bedtime. On days when children experienced more school problems, they reported more negative emotion and less positive emotion at school, and at bedtime. There were reliable individual differences in emotion reactivity and recovery. Individual-level indices of emotion responses derived from multilevel models were correlated with child psychological symptoms. Children who showed more negative emotion reactivity reported more depressive symptoms. Multiple informants described fewer internalizing problems among children who showed better recovery by bedtime, even after controlling for children's average levels of exposure to school problems. Diary methods can extend our understanding of the links between daily stress, emotions and child mental health. Recovery following stressful events may be an important target of research and intervention for child internalizing problems