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Patterns of salivary cortisol secretion in pregnancy and implications for assessment protocols.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Harville, EW; Savitz, DA; Dole, N; Herring, AH; Thorp, JM; Light, KC
Published in: Biological psychology
January 2007

Cortisol is used in research as a biomarker of psychological stress. Logistical considerations argue for collecting as few samples as possible, balanced against diurnal rhythms and intra-individual variations. 100 pregnant women gave five saliva samples a day for 3 days, at waking, 30 min after waking, and 11:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m. Timing of collection was confirmed by monitors. Another sample was taken during a clinic visit. Using the 15 measures as the gold standard, correlations and mean area under the curve (AUC) were compared with subsets and the single clinic sample to evaluate alternate collection protocols. Five samples in 1 day, or protocols involving morning and night samples, had the highest correlations with mean AUC (correlation coefficient ranging from 0.82 to 0.88). Standardizing the clinic measurement to a single time of day did not substantially improve correlations with mean AUC. Correlations with measures of reported stress were also not strong.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Biological psychology

DOI

EISSN

1873-6246

ISSN

0301-0511

Publication Date

January 2007

Volume

74

Issue

1

Start / End Page

85 / 91

Related Subject Headings

  • Stress, Psychological
  • Saliva
  • Pregnancy
  • Hydrocortisone
  • Humans
  • Gestational Age
  • Female
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Adult
  • 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
 

Citation

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Harville, E. W., Savitz, D. A., Dole, N., Herring, A. H., Thorp, J. M., & Light, K. C. (2007). Patterns of salivary cortisol secretion in pregnancy and implications for assessment protocols. Biological Psychology, 74(1), 85–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.07.005
Harville, Emily W., David A. Savitz, Nancy Dole, Amy H. Herring, John M. Thorp, and Kathleen C. Light. “Patterns of salivary cortisol secretion in pregnancy and implications for assessment protocols.Biological Psychology 74, no. 1 (January 2007): 85–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.07.005.
Harville EW, Savitz DA, Dole N, Herring AH, Thorp JM, Light KC. Patterns of salivary cortisol secretion in pregnancy and implications for assessment protocols. Biological psychology. 2007 Jan;74(1):85–91.
Harville, Emily W., et al. “Patterns of salivary cortisol secretion in pregnancy and implications for assessment protocols.Biological Psychology, vol. 74, no. 1, Jan. 2007, pp. 85–91. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.07.005.
Harville EW, Savitz DA, Dole N, Herring AH, Thorp JM, Light KC. Patterns of salivary cortisol secretion in pregnancy and implications for assessment protocols. Biological psychology. 2007 Jan;74(1):85–91.
Journal cover image

Published In

Biological psychology

DOI

EISSN

1873-6246

ISSN

0301-0511

Publication Date

January 2007

Volume

74

Issue

1

Start / End Page

85 / 91

Related Subject Headings

  • Stress, Psychological
  • Saliva
  • Pregnancy
  • Hydrocortisone
  • Humans
  • Gestational Age
  • Female
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Adult
  • 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology