Armstrong-Carter Emma, Telzer Eva H
Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, USA.
Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol. 2021 Dec 15;9:100106. doi: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100106. eCollection 2022 Feb.
This study investigates how the interplay between adolescents' daily levels of emotional distress and diurnal cortisol relates to their risk-taking behaviors. Specifically, we test competing hypotheses whether emotional distress exacerbates the link between cortisol and risk taking, or whether cortisol only predicts risk taking in the absence of emotional distress. Ethnically diverse adolescents (N = 370; ages 11-18) reported their daily levels of emotional distress and risk-taking behavior for 5 days, and provided 4 saliva samples/day for 4 days. Emotional distress was positively associated with risk taking the same day and on average across days. Moreover, emotional distress and total cortisol output interactively predicted risk taking, such that total cortisol output was positively associated with risk taking on days when adolescents felt low levels of emotional distress, but not on days when adolescents felt high levels of emotional distress. High levels of emotional distress were associated with high levels of risk taking regardless of total cortisol output. There were no direct associations between cortisol and risk taking on daily or average levels. Results suggest that cortisol is associated with risk-taking behavior on days when adolescents are not already feeling emotionally distressed enough to take risks.
本研究探讨青少年日常情绪困扰水平与昼夜皮质醇之间的相互作用如何与他们的冒险行为相关。具体而言，我们检验了相互竞争的假设：情绪困扰是否会加剧皮质醇与冒险行为之间的联系，或者皮质醇是否仅在没有情绪困扰的情况下才预测冒险行为。来自不同种族的青少年（N = 370；年龄11 - 18岁）报告了他们连续5天的日常情绪困扰水平和冒险行为，并在4天内每天提供4份唾液样本。情绪困扰与当天以及平均每天的冒险行为呈正相关。此外，情绪困扰和总皮质醇分泌量交互预测冒险行为，即当青少年情绪困扰水平较低时，总皮质醇分泌量与冒险行为呈正相关，但在青少年情绪困扰水平较高时则不然。无论总皮质醇分泌量如何，高水平的情绪困扰都与高水平的冒险行为相关。皮质醇与日常或平均水平的冒险行为之间没有直接关联。结果表明，在青少年尚未因情绪困扰而足以冒险的日子里，皮质醇与冒险行为相关。
