ArticleJournal of functional morphology and kinesiology2019
Tiered Levels of Resting Cortisol in an Athletic Population. A Potential Role for Interpretation in Biopsychosocial Assessment?
Article in Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Associations Between Endocrine Status and Stress, Mood and Psychosomatic Status in Elite Handball Players.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Biochemical and psychological markers of fatigue and recovery in mixed martial arts athletes during strength and conditioning training.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Investigating the Psychophysiological Response to Grade One Muscular Injuries in Professional Australian Football Athletes.International journal of exercise science · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCortisol is a steroid hormone that follows a distinct diurnal timeline; however, while healthy ranges exist, it not been determined whether or why individuals differ on baseline cortisol levels. The aim of this study was to test the anecdotal evidence of different levels of responders by classifying these levels in resting cortisol, and to correlate individual cortisol responses to psychological traits.
methodsTwenty-two male athletes (mean age 22.5 ± 4.34 years) provided two saliva samples at the same time each day over three days in week one of their pre-season to determine individual baseline salivary cortisol levels. Participants also completed self-report psychological traits measures for correlation to cortisol levels.
resultsThree levels of cortisol in responders were clearly identified (
conclusionsThis novel study identified that within an overall healthy range, individual athletes will likely fall into either a low, average or high band of baseline cortisol. However individual responses did not correlate to self-report psychological traits. Caution is required if sports science staff wish to use cortisol to measure psychological stress.
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Registered trials
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