TLDR
Stress happening now was linked to a stronger morning rise in the body’s stress hormone, while earlier stress was linked to a weaker rise in boys. Close ties with friends—and, for boys, parents—were linked to less weakening.
Summary
This content was automatically synthesized by Credo's AI models directly from the original source text.
AI summaries can make mistakes — double-check important details against the original source.
1 Study Aim
The authors aimed to compare how past and current stress relate to adolescents’ cortisol awakening response (CAR; the rise in cortisol after waking). They also tested whether attachment (a sense of security in relationships) to parents or peers changed these links, and whether patterns differed by sex. The researchers wanted to learn whether stress from different times and close relationships shape teens’ morning hormone rise.
2 Study Design
The research followed 99 community adolescents, including 46 females, from an average age of 12.65 to 18.05, about five years later. Teens reported stressful events from the previous year at both ages; at the later assessment, they also rated parent and peer attachment and collected saliva. Cortisol samples were taken five times daily over three weekdays, and the morning rise was calculated from the first three samples. The authors used multilevel models (statistical analyses that account for repeated measurements from the same person) and adjusted for stress timing, sex, and other factors. The study tracked teens over time and compared their reported stress, relationships, and morning saliva samples.
3 Findings
The study found that more current stress was associated with a steeper CAR (the morning rise in cortisol) for both sexes. More past stress was associated with a flatter CAR in males, but not females. Peer attachment buffered this link: past stress was related to a flatter CAR among adolescents reporting less secure peer relationships, but not among those reporting more secure relationships. Parent attachment weakened the past-stress association for males only; neither type of attachment buffered the association between current stress and CAR. The authors recommend future studies testing whether strengthening supportive relationships can reduce lasting effects of stress. Stress happening now went with a bigger morning hormone rise, while supportive relationships softened the link between earlier stress and a smaller rise.