Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms and Stress Levels in Healthy Young Men: Associations With the Cortisol Response to Awakening

Abstract

The present study extends earlier findings of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperactivity in clinical depression to healthy young men with mild levels of depressive symptomatology. Measuring the cortisol response to awakening is proposed as an economical alternative to traditional approaches for determining basal hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Associations between depressive symptomatology and chronic stress, as well as implications for future studies, are discussed.