ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2014
Variability and reliability of diurnal cortisol in younger and older adults: implications for design decisions.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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
58 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Neuroendocrine signature of ME/CFS: Meta-analytic evidence for bioactive cortisol deficit and exaggerated feedback sensitivity.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Rigor and Reproducibility: A Systematic Review of Salivary Cortisol Sampling and Reporting Parameters Used in Cancer Survivorship Research.Biological research for nursing · 2019Pooled it
- Digital music and movement intervention to improve health and wellbeing in older adults in care homes: a pilot mixed methods study.BMC geriatrics · 2024Trial
- Effects of web-based cognitive behavioral stress management and health promotion interventions on neuroendocrine and inflammatory markers in men with advanced prostate cancer: A randomized controlled trial.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2021Trial
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of Goal-Focused Emotion-Regulation Therapy for Young Adult Survivors of Testicular Cancer: Effects on Salivary and Inflammatory Stress Markers.American journal of men's healthTrial
- Blunted diurnal cortisol slope as a risk marker for 9-year executive function decline: amplification by daily stress and worry severity.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Repeat At-Home Saliva Collection to Measure Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR): Protocol Feasibility Study Among Black Women With Histories of Abuse.Interactive journal of medical research · 2026Article
- Salivary Cortisol and Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer Disease in Older Adults.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- A Bayesian Modeling Approach to Optimize Longitudinal Biomarker Sampling Schedules Using Hormonal Data.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2026Article
- Diurnal cortisol trajectories from mid-pregnancy to one year after birth.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Heart rate variability, daily cortisol indices and their association with psychometric characteristics and gut microbiota composition in an Italian community sample.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Perinatal Predictors and Mediators of Attachment Patterns in Preschool Children: Exploration of Children's Contributions in Interactions with Mothers.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Impact of Pilates Exercise on Quality of Life, Functional Capacity, Cancer-related Fatigue, Depression and Salivary Cortisol of Colorectal Cancer Survivors: A Quasi-Experimental Study.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2024Article
- Postpartum symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress: differential relationships to women's cortisol profiles.Archives of women's mental health · 2024Article
- Evening cortisol levels are prognostic for progression-free survival in a prospective pilot study of head and neck cancer patients.Frontiers in oncology · 2024Article
- Psychobiological effects of an eHealth psychoeducational intervention to informal caregivers of persons with dementia: a pilot study during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2023Article
- Mobile sensing to advance tumor modeling in cancer patients: A conceptual framework.Internet interventions · 2023Article
- Using Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up with young children with developmental delays: A multiple-baseline trial of attachment, sensitivity, and cortisol.Journal of intellectual disabilities : JOID · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The extant research is inconclusive regarding the best sampling methods to construct reliable measures of between-person differences in derived parameters of diurnal cortisol, and no study provides such recommendations for detecting within-person changes. These studies determined how many days of sampling are necessary to assess between-person differences and within-person changes over multiple occasions in diurnal mean, diurnal slope, and area under the curve (AUC). Generalizability and decision analyses were conducted on diurnal salivary cortisol data from two separate longitudinal studies, one with younger adults (N=124) and one with older adults (N=148). In both studies, results indicated that 3 days of data collection provided the minimal level of reliability in mean cortisol to detect between-person differences; 4-8 days were necessary to reliably assess AUC, and 10 days for cortisol slope. Similarly, in order to reliably characterize within-person changes across occasions, at least 3 days of data collection were needed for mean cortisol and AUC and 5-8 days for slope. Results also indicated that only two samples per day, taken morning and evening, could faithfully reproduce the diurnal slope calculated from 3 or 4 samples (r=.97-.99). Instead of having participants provide many samples per day over the course of a few days, we recommend collecting fewer samples per day over more days.
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