Effects of Health Behavior Interventions on Psychosocial Outcomes and Cortisol Regulation Among Chronically Stressed Midlife and Older Adults.

BACKGROUND

Altered cortisol dynamics have been associated with increased risk for chronic health problems among midlife and older adults (≥ 45 years of age). Yet, studies investigating the impact of health behavior interventions on cortisol activity in this age group are limited.

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS

The current study examined whether 48 midlife and older adults (50% family caregivers, 69% women) randomized to one of four telephone-based health behavior interventions (stress management (SM), exercise (EX), nutrition (NUT), or exercise plus nutrition (EX+NUT)) showed improvements in their perceived stress, mood, and cortisol dynamics at 4 months post-intervention. Participants collected four salivary cortisol samples (waking, 30 min after waking, 4 p.m., and bedtime) across two collection days at baseline and at 4 months post-intervention to assess for total cortisol, cortisol awakening response (CAR), and diurnal cortisol slope.

RESULTS

Participants in SM showed lower levels of total cortisol and a smaller CAR compared with those in EX, NUT, or EX+NUT from baseline to 4 months post-intervention. Participants in EX showed lower levels of perceived stress, depression, and anxiety compared with those in NUT or SM. Finally, participants in NUT showed a greater diurnal decline in cortisol and lower levels of anxiety compared with those in SM.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide support for the efficacy of telephone-based, health behavior interventions in improving different stress outcomes among chronically stressed midlife and older adults and suggest the need to test the longer-term effects of these interventions for improving health outcomes in this population.