Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adults

Introduction: Loneliness is a distressful feeling that can affect mental and physical health, particularly among older adults. Cortisol, the primary hormone of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis (HPA-axis), may act as a biological transducer through which loneliness affects health. While most p...

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Autores: Díaz-Mardomingo, María del Carmen, Utrera, Lucía, Baliyan, Shishir, García-Herranz, Sara, Suárez-Falcón, Juan Carlos, Rodríguez-Fernández, Raquel, Sampedro Piquero, Patricia, Valencia, Azucena, Venero, César
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/711771
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/711771
https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1199405
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:aging
emotional loneliness
HPA axis
saliva
sex
social loneliness
Psicología
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spelling Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adultsDíaz-Mardomingo, María del CarmenUtrera, LucíaBaliyan, ShishirGarcía-Herranz, SaraSuárez-Falcón, Juan CarlosRodríguez-Fernández, RaquelSampedro Piquero, PatriciaValencia, AzucenaVenero, Césaragingemotional lonelinessHPA axissalivasexsocial lonelinessPsicologíaIntroduction: Loneliness is a distressful feeling that can affect mental and physical health, particularly among older adults. Cortisol, the primary hormone of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis (HPA-axis), may act as a biological transducer through which loneliness affects health. While most previous studies have evaluated the association between loneliness, as a unidimensional construct, and diurnal cortisol pattern, no research has examined this relationship discriminating between social and emotional loneliness in older adults. As sex differences in the negative mental health outcomes of loneliness have been reported, we also investigated whether diurnal cortisol indices and loneliness associations occur in a sex-specific manner. Methods: We analyzed the diurnal cortisol- pattern in 142 community-dwelling, non-depressed, Caucasian older adults (55,6% female) aged 60-90. Social and emotional (family and romantic) loneliness scores were assessed using the Spanish version of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA). Five salivary cortisol samples were used to capture key features of the diurnal cortisol pattern, including: awakening and bedtime cortisol levels, awakening response (CAR), post-awakening cortisol output (post-awakening cortisol [i.e., the area under the curve with reference to the ground: AUCG]), total diurnal cortisol release (AUCG), and diurnal cortisol slope (DCS). Results: After controlling for sociodemographic variables, the hierarchical linear multiple regression analyses revealed that in male older adults, higher scores on social and family loneliness were associated with elevated awakening cortisol levels, total diurnal cortisol output, and a steeper diurnal cortisol slope (DCS). However, these associations were not observed in female older adults. In addition, feelings of romantic loneliness were positively associated with bedtime cortisol levels and AUCG in older males. Multilevel growth curve modeling showed that experiencing more social and emotional loneliness predicted higher diurnal cortisol output throughout the day in older male adults. Discussion: The presence of sex differences in the relationship between cortisol indices and loneliness among older adults holds particular significance for diagnostic and screening procedures. Combining loneliness scales as screening tools with diurnal cortisol measures has the potential to be an effective and cost-efficient approach in identifying higher-risk individuals at early stagesThis research was supported by RTI2018-094627-B-I00 and PID2021-125945OB-I00 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and by the Cátedra de Igualdad y Bienestar Psicológico y Emocional (Diputació de Castelló-UNED)FrontiersDepartamento de Psicología Biológica y de la SaludFacultad de Psicología20232023-09-07research articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_2df8fbb1VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10486/711771https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1199405reponame:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAMinstname:Universidad Autónoma de MadridInglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/7117712026-06-23T12:46:27Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adults
title Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adults
spellingShingle Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adults
Díaz-Mardomingo, María del Carmen
aging
emotional loneliness
HPA axis
saliva
sex
social loneliness
Psicología
title_short Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adults
title_full Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adults
title_fullStr Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adults
title_full_unstemmed Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adults
title_sort Sex-related differences in the associations between diurnal cortisol pattern and social and emotional loneliness in older adults
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Díaz-Mardomingo, María del Carmen
Utrera, Lucía
Baliyan, Shishir
García-Herranz, Sara
Suárez-Falcón, Juan Carlos
Rodríguez-Fernández, Raquel
Sampedro Piquero, Patricia
Valencia, Azucena
Venero, César
author Díaz-Mardomingo, María del Carmen
author_facet Díaz-Mardomingo, María del Carmen
Utrera, Lucía
Baliyan, Shishir
García-Herranz, Sara
Suárez-Falcón, Juan Carlos
Rodríguez-Fernández, Raquel
Sampedro Piquero, Patricia
Valencia, Azucena
Venero, César
author_role author
author2 Utrera, Lucía
Baliyan, Shishir
García-Herranz, Sara
Suárez-Falcón, Juan Carlos
Rodríguez-Fernández, Raquel
Sampedro Piquero, Patricia
Valencia, Azucena
Venero, César
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud
Facultad de Psicología
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv aging
emotional loneliness
HPA axis
saliva
sex
social loneliness
Psicología
topic aging
emotional loneliness
HPA axis
saliva
sex
social loneliness
Psicología
description Introduction: Loneliness is a distressful feeling that can affect mental and physical health, particularly among older adults. Cortisol, the primary hormone of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis (HPA-axis), may act as a biological transducer through which loneliness affects health. While most previous studies have evaluated the association between loneliness, as a unidimensional construct, and diurnal cortisol pattern, no research has examined this relationship discriminating between social and emotional loneliness in older adults. As sex differences in the negative mental health outcomes of loneliness have been reported, we also investigated whether diurnal cortisol indices and loneliness associations occur in a sex-specific manner. Methods: We analyzed the diurnal cortisol- pattern in 142 community-dwelling, non-depressed, Caucasian older adults (55,6% female) aged 60-90. Social and emotional (family and romantic) loneliness scores were assessed using the Spanish version of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA). Five salivary cortisol samples were used to capture key features of the diurnal cortisol pattern, including: awakening and bedtime cortisol levels, awakening response (CAR), post-awakening cortisol output (post-awakening cortisol [i.e., the area under the curve with reference to the ground: AUCG]), total diurnal cortisol release (AUCG), and diurnal cortisol slope (DCS). Results: After controlling for sociodemographic variables, the hierarchical linear multiple regression analyses revealed that in male older adults, higher scores on social and family loneliness were associated with elevated awakening cortisol levels, total diurnal cortisol output, and a steeper diurnal cortisol slope (DCS). However, these associations were not observed in female older adults. In addition, feelings of romantic loneliness were positively associated with bedtime cortisol levels and AUCG in older males. Multilevel growth curve modeling showed that experiencing more social and emotional loneliness predicted higher diurnal cortisol output throughout the day in older male adults. Discussion: The presence of sex differences in the relationship between cortisol indices and loneliness among older adults holds particular significance for diagnostic and screening procedures. Combining loneliness scales as screening tools with diurnal cortisol measures has the potential to be an effective and cost-efficient approach in identifying higher-risk individuals at early stages
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
2023-09-07
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv research article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_2df8fbb1
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10486/711771
https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1199405
url http://hdl.handle.net/10486/711771
https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1199405
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Frontiers
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Frontiers
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
instname:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
instname_str Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
reponame_str Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
collection Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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