ArticlePhysiology & behavior2014
Diurnal patterns and associations among salivary cortisol, DHEA and alpha-amylase in older adults.
Article in Physiology & behavior, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, and depressive symptoms as pathways from child abuse to obesity.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2025Article
- Examining Reactivity and Recovery Patterns of Pain-Evoked Cortisol and Alpha-Amylase Trajectories: Relations Between Psychological Markers of Risk and Resilience.The journal of pain · 2024Article
- Profiles of diurnal cortisol and DHEA regulation among children: Associations with maltreatment experiences, symptomatology, and positive adaptation.Development and psychopathology · 2023Article
- Intensive longitudinal modelling predicts diurnal activity of salivary alpha-amylase.PloS one · 2019Article
- The utility and dynamics of salivary sex hormone measurements in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, Wave 2.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) are considered to be valuable markers of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, while salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) reflects the autonomic nervous system. Past studies have found certain diurnal patterns among these biomarkers, with some studies reporting results that differ from others. Also, some past studies have found an association among these three biomarkers while other studies have not. This study investigates these patterns and associations in older adults by taking advantage of modern statistical methods for dealing with non-normality, outliers and curvature. Basic characteristics of the data are reported as well, which are relevant to understanding the nature of any patterns and associations.
methodsBoxplots were used to check on the skewness and presence of outliers, including the impact of using simple transformations for dealing with non-normality. Diurnal patterns were investigated using recent advances aimed at comparing medians. When studying associations, the initial step was to check for curvature using a non-parametric regression estimator. Based on the resulting fit, a robust regression estimator was used that is designed to deal with skewed distributions and outliers.
resultsBoxplots indicated highly skewed distributions with outliers. Simple transformations (such as taking logs) did not deal with this issue in an effective manner. Consequently, diurnal patterns were investigated using medians and found to be consistent with some previous studies but not others. A positive association between awakening cortisol levels and DHEA was found when DHEA is relatively low; otherwise no association was found. The nature of the association between cortisol and DHEA was found to change during the course of the day. Upon awakening, cortisol was found to have no association with sAA when DHEA levels are relatively low, but otherwise there is a negative association. DHEA was found to have a positive association with sAA upon awakening. Shortly after awakening and for the remainder of the day, no association was found between DHEA and sAA ignoring cortisol. For DHEA and cortisol (taken as the independent variables) versus sAA (the dependent variable), again an association is found only upon awakening.
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Registered trials
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