Mayagoitia-Novales Lilian, Cerda-Molina Ana Lilia, Mendoza-Mojica Sheila Adriana, Borráz-León Javier I, Hernández-Melesio M Alejandra, Saldívar-Hernández Gabriela Josefina
Departamento de Etología, Dirección de Investigaciones en Neurociencias, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico.
Unidad Académica Profesional Tejupilco, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Estado de Mexico, Mexico.
Front Psychol. 2023 Jul 7;14:1187248. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1187248. eCollection 2023.
Living in urban places has been associated with a higher risk of psychopathology as well as with altered hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and consequently altered cortisol response, but studies have concentrated mainly in high-income countries population. The role of other hormones such as testosterone, implicated in stress response and with human social behaviors, have not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to compare symptoms of psychopathology as well as cortisol and testosterone in response to traumatic images between urban and suburban people in a middle-income country.
A sample of 67 women and 55 men ( = 122, 18-45 years) from urban and suburban places of Mexico participated in the study. We quantified salivary cortisol and testosterone in response to images with traumatic and violent content (basal, 15, 30, and 45 min after images). Participants answered a general information questionnaire and the Symptom Checklist-90-R to assess their psychopathological traits. We performed Generalized Estimating Equation Models to analyze hormonal levels and MANOVAs to compare differences in participants' psychopathology symptoms. Area under the curve respect to ground (AUC) of hormonal levels and sex differences were also compared.
Suburban citizens showed no cortisol response, whereas urban people showed a cortisol peak 15 min after the image's exposure; however, suburban people had higher AUC and basal levels compared to urban ones. Contrastingly, testosterone levels declined in all participants excepting the urban women, who showed no testosterone response. Although similar testosterone profile, AUC levels were higher in urban than suburban men. Participants living in suburban areas had higher scores of somatizations, obsessive-compulsive, and interpersonal sensitivity, as well as more sleep disorders than participants living in urban areas.
This study offers novel evidence about differences in cortisol and testosterone responses to a social stressor and in mental health indicators between a population of urban and suburban citizens, highlighting the impact of urbanization process on physiological and psychological outcomes in a middle-income country.
生活在城市地区与精神病理学风险较高以及下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺（HPA）轴改变从而导致皮质醇反应改变有关，但研究主要集中在高收入国家人群。其他激素如睾酮在应激反应和人类社会行为中起作用，但其作用尚未得到研究。本研究的目的是比较一个中等收入国家城市和郊区人群在面对创伤性图像时的精神病理学症状以及皮质醇和睾酮水平。
来自墨西哥城市和郊区的67名女性和55名男性（n = 122，年龄18 - 45岁）参与了该研究。我们对参与者在面对包含创伤和暴力内容的图像时（基线、图像呈现后15、30和45分钟）的唾液皮质醇和睾酮进行了定量。参与者回答了一份一般信息问卷和症状自评量表90 - R以评估他们的精神病理学特征。我们进行了广义估计方程模型来分析激素水平，并进行多变量方差分析以比较参与者精神病理学症状的差异。还比较了激素水平相对于基线的曲线下面积（AUC）以及性别差异。
郊区居民未表现出皮质醇反应，而城市居民在图像暴露后15分钟出现皮质醇峰值；然而，与城市居民相比，郊区居民的AUC和基线水平更高。相反，除城市女性未表现出睾酮反应外，所有参与者的睾酮水平均下降。尽管睾酮水平变化趋势相似，但城市男性的AUC水平高于郊区男性。与城市居民相比，居住在郊区的参与者在躯体化、强迫观念及强迫行为、人际敏感等方面得分更高，睡眠障碍也更多。
本研究提供了关于城市和郊区人群在对社会应激源的皮质醇和睾酮反应以及心理健康指标方面差异的确凿新证据，突出了城市化进程对中等收入国家生理和心理结果的影响。
