Clemens Kirschbaum
Biographic Data
| ID | 3582781 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Clemens Kirschbaum |
| GIVEN NAMES | Clemens |
| FAMILY NAME | Kirschbaum |
| SIGNATURE | KIRSCHBAUM C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Universität Trier |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 53 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 35 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 53 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Time‐dependent association between prenatal hair glucocorticoid levels and child behavior problems
BACKGROUND: Child internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems are highly prevalent psychiatric symptoms worldwide, for which maternal prenatal stress is a known risk factor. However, underlying neuroendocrine mechanisms remain largely unclear. We investigated whether maternal hair cortisol (HCC) and cortisone concentration (HCNC) are associated with offspring's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in a prospective pre-birth c…
Disrupting the doxa
Perceived stress and hair cortisol concentration in a study of Mexican and Icelandic women
Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) represent a potential biomarker of chronic psychological stress. Previous studies exploring the association between perceived stress and HCC have been limited to relatively small and selected populations. We collected hair samples from 881 women from the Mexican Teachers’ Cohort (MTC) and 398 women from the Icelandic SAGA pilot-cohort following identical protocols. HCC was quantified using liquid chromatography c…
Empathy Modulates the Effects of Acute Stress on Anxious Appearance and Social Behavior in Social Anxiety Disorder
Patients suffering from social anxiety disorder (SAD) fear social interaction and evaluation, which severely undermines their everyday life. There is evidence of increased prosocial behavior after acute social stress exposure in healthy individuals, which may be interpreted as stress-regulating " tend-and-befriend" behavior. In a randomized controlled trial, we measured empathic abilities in a first diagnostic session. In the following experiment…
Associations between burnout symptoms and social behaviour
In conclusion, we report first experimental evidence that burnout symptoms are negatively associated with prosocial behaviour. Further studies are needed to explore the causal relations
Coaching of Insolvent Entrepreneurs and the Change in Coping Resources, Health, and Cognitive Performance
As coaching becomes an established learning and development tool, it expands to new work contexts and relevant populations. Exploring coaching outcomes in insolvent entrepreneurs is a new and promising field. Business failure is a devastating experience for entrepreneurs, associated with negative emotions and adverse psychological and physiological reactions. Our study is the first to examine if coaching can help improve the coping resources, hea…
Contemplative Mental Training Reduces Hair Glucocorticoid Levels in a Randomized Clinical Trial
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of regular contemplative mental training on endocrine and psychological indices of long-term stress. METHODS: An open-label efficacy trial that comprised three distinct 3-month long modules targeting attention and interoception, socioaffective, or sociocognitive abilities through dyadic exercises and secularized meditation practices was conducted with healthy adults. Participants underwent the…
Temporal stability and effect dynamics between executive functions, perceived chronic stress, and hair cortisol concentrations
Accidents caused by human errors illustrate the fragility of cognitive processing and its coordination by executive functions against stress. To better understand how core executive functions change over time, influence each other, and are affected by chronic stress exposure, a prospective cohort study was conducted from 2016 to 2019. Five hundred sixteen German adults aged 25-55 years (mean age/education age: 38.0/11.3 years, 67% females, 94% oc…
Effects of a 6-Week Internet-Based Stress Management Program on Perceived Stress, Subjective Coping Skills, and Sleep Quality
Occupational stress management intervention programs are known to be effective in preventing stress-related health burden. Two essential mechanisms underlie this effect: (i) a reduction in perceived stress (e.g., via relaxation-oriented techniques), and (ii) an improvement in coping skills (e.g., via cognitive-behavioral interventions). While relaxation-oriented interventions are more frequently employed in occupational settings, cognitive-behavi…
Family Member Incarceration, Psychological Stress, and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease in Mexican Women (2012–2016)
Objectives. To examine the association between family member incarceration, psychological stress, and subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods. Between 2012 and 2016, 1849 CVD-free women from the Mexican Teachers’ Cohort responded to questions on family incarceration from the Life Stressor Checklist. Perceived stress and hair cortisol levels were measured in a subset of participants. Carotid intima-media thickness was measured, and carot…
The Longitudinal Association of Reduced Vagal Tone With Burnout
OBJECTIVE: Previous research indicates a link between burnout symptoms and reduced vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV); however, the directionality of this relationship is still largely unknown. The objective of the present study was to examine the longitudinal relationship between HRV and burnout symptoms for 1 year, with a special focus on the emotional exhaustion (EE) burnout subdimension, which remains inadequately distinguished fro…
Comparison group matters for chronic stress effects of subjective social status
Inconsistent associations between health and measures of subjective social status compared to one's community suggest that how people define community may matter. This study broke down community into status among neighborhood and friends/family to assess the impact of each domain on chronic stress in individuals differing in socioeconomic status (18 employed and 18 unemployed individuals). The findings suggest that for ratings of subjective socia…
Lipidomics in Major Depressive Disorder
Omic sciences coupled with novel computational approaches such as machine intelligence offer completely new approaches to major depressive disorder (MDD) research. The complexity of MDD's pathophysiology is being integrated into studies examining MDD's biology within the omic fields. Lipidomics, as a late-comer among other omic fields, is increasingly being recognized in psychiatric research because it has allowed the investigation of global lipi…
Stress-related and basic determinants of hair cortisol in humans
Assessment of the cortisol awakening response
The cortisol awakening response (CAR), the marked increase in cortisol secretion over the first 30-45 min after morning awakening, has been related to a wide range of psychosocial, physical and mental health parameters, making it a key variable for psychoneuroendocrinological research. The CAR is typically assessed from self-collection of saliva samples within the domestic setting. While this confers ecological validity, it lacks direct researche…
Tic Frequency Decreases during Short-term Psychosocial Stress – An Experimental Study on Children with Tic Disorders
It has been suggested that psychosocial stress influences situational fluctuations of tic frequency. However, evidence from experimental studies is lacking. The current study investigated the effects of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-C) on tic frequency in 31 children and adolescents with tic disorders. A relaxation and a concentration situation served as control conditions. Patients were asked either to suppress their tics or to "tic freely.…
A blunted diurnal cortisol response in the lower educated does not explain educational differences in coronary heart disease
Classification Criteria for Distinguishing Cortisol Responders From Nonresponders to Psychosocial Stress
OBJECTIVE: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity to acute stimulation is frequently assessed by repeated sampling of salivary cortisol. Researchers often strive to distinguish between individuals who show (responders) and those do not show (nonresponders) cortisol responses. For this, fixed threshold classification criteria, such as a 2.5-nmol/l baseline-to-peak increase, are frequently used. However, the performance of such criteria has…
Measures of Social Position and Cortisol Secretion in an Aging Population
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis associated with disadvantaged social position in working populations also occurs in older age groups. METHODS: This study examines the association of several indicators of social position with two measures of cortisol secretion, a product of the HPA axis. We examined the cortisol awakening response (CAR), and slope of the decline in cortisol secretion acr…
The cortisol awakening response (CAR)
Salivary Cortisol in Psychobiological Research
The measurement of cortisol in saliva provides the basic scientist as well as the clinician with a reliable tool for investigations of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Since saliva samples can be obtained stress-free and independent from medically trained personnel this method may be well suited for use in psychobiological studies. This overview intends to give a comprehensive introduction to the method of salivary cortisol assessmen…
The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’ – A Tool for Investigating Psychobiological Stress Responses in a Laboratory Setting
This paper describes a protocol for induction of moderate psychological stress in a laboratory setting and evaluates its effects on physiological responses. The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’ (TSST) mainly consists of an anticipation period (10 min) and a test period (10 min) in which the subjects have to deliver a free speech and perform mental arithmetic in front of an audience. In six independent studies this protocol has been found to induce cons…
Biopsychologie von A bis Z
Socioeconomic Status, Race, and Diurnal Cortisol Decline in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (Cardia) Study
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to assess whether socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with dysregulation of the cortisol diurnal rhythm and whether this association is independent of race and occurs equally in whites and blacks; and to determine if an association between SES and cortisol can be explained (is mediated) by behavioral, social, and emotional differences across the SES gradient. METHODS: Seven hundred eighty-one sub…
Hypothalamic Blood Flow Correlates Positively With Stress-Induced Cortisol Levels in Subjects With Social Anxiety Disorder
Objective: The adrenal excretion of cortisol in animals is dependent on the production of corticotropin-releasing factor in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. The a priori hypothesis of this study was that hypothalamic regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) would correlate positively with salivary cortisol levels in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) during anxiety provocation. Another objective was to evaluate whether salivar…
Work stress, socioeconomic status and neuroendocrine activation over the working day
Life events and social support as moderators of individual differences in cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity
Whether prior stress increases acute stress reactivity is unresolved. The impact of life events (within the past 12 months) and social support on cardiovascular responses was investigated in 90 young male firefighters. Cardiovascular and cortisol measures were collected across baseline, arithmetic, and speech tasks; intertask recovery; and three recovery trials. Reactivity differences were not independently associated with life events. High socia…
Family Member Incarceration, Psychological Stress, and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease in Mexican Women (2012–2016)
Objectives. To examine the association between family member incarceration, psychological stress, and subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods. Between 2012 and 2016, 1849 CVD-free women from the Mexican Teachers’ Cohort responded to questions on family incarceration from the Life Stressor Checklist. Perceived stress and hair cortisol levels were measured in a subset of participants. Carotid intima-media thickness was measured, and carot…
A blunted diurnal cortisol response in the lower educated does not explain educational differences in coronary heart disease
Synthesis of a cortisol-biotin conjugate and evaluation as a tracer in an immunoassay for salivary cortisol measurement
Conditioned increase of natural killer cell activity (NKCA) in humans
Cumulating evidence suggests that immune parameters can be modified by behavioral conditioning processes in animals. The present results suggest that this also holds true for a human immune parameter. Healthy subjects were exposed to a conditioning procedure in which a neutral sherbet sweet (conditioned stimulus) was repeatedly paired with a subcutaneous injection of 0.2 mg epinephrine (unconditioned stimulus). After epinephrine administration an…
Consistent sex differences in cortisol responses to psychological stress
In four independent studies, sex differences in cortisol responses to psychological stress were investigated in healthy adolescents and adults (total n = 153). Public speaking and mental arithmetic in front of an audience (Studies 1-3) reliably induced increases in free cortisol levels in both sexes with 2- to 4-fold increases above baseline levels. Mean cortisol responses were 1.5- to 2-fold higher in men compared with women. In Study 3, cortiso…
Salivary cortisol in psychoneuroendocrine research
Persistent High Cortisol Responses to Repeated Psychological Stress in a Subpopulation of Healthy Men
The present study tested the hypothesis that some subjects may not readily show habituation of adrenocortical stress responses to repeated psychological stress. Twenty healthy male subjects were each exposed five times to the same, brief psychosocial stressor (public speaking and mental arithmetic in front of an audience) with one stress session per day. Salivary cortisol levels were assessed as an index of adrenocortical stress responses. For th…
Sex-Specific Effects of Social Support on Cortisol and Subjective Responses to Acute Psychological Stress
The effects of short-term social support on cortisol levels and subjective responses to acute psychological stress were investigated in healthy adults (total N = 66). In anticipation of a public-speaking task in front of an audience, subjects received either no social support ("no support") or social support from an opposite-sex stranger ("stranger") or from their boyfriend or girlfriend ("partner"). Support providers were instructed to enact bot…
Effect of Chronic Stress Associated With Unemployment on Salivary Cortisol
This study examined the effect of chronic stress associated with unemployment on the magnitude of salivary cortisol excretion, on the diurnal rhythm of cortisol, and on cortisol reactivity to acute naturalistic stressors using Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM). Employed (N = 60) and unemployed (N = 60) subjects were studied for 2 days. Subjects were beeped 6 times per day by a preprogrammed wristwatch to assess acute stressors; 25 minutes aft…
Free Cortisol Levels after Awakening
Attenuated Free Cortisol Response to Psychosocial Stress in Children with Atopic Dermatitis
OBJECTIVE: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by a hyperactivity of the humoral immune system with an onset in infancy or early childhood. Although most of the research has focused on the pathophysiological role of the immune system in AD, the impact of endocrine signals in the pathology of AD has received only little attention. However, because the endocrine system may play a regulatory role in immune functionin…
Stressors and Mood Measured on a Momentary Basis Are Associated With Salivary Cortisol Secretion
Moving the Laboratory Into the Field
(Smyth, Stone) Departments of Psychiatry & Psychology, SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY; (Kirschbaum) Department of Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany
Life events and social support as moderators of individual differences in cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity
Whether prior stress increases acute stress reactivity is unresolved. The impact of life events (within the past 12 months) and social support on cardiovascular responses was investigated in 90 young male firefighters. Cardiovascular and cortisol measures were collected across baseline, arithmetic, and speech tasks; intertask recovery; and three recovery trials. Reactivity differences were not independently associated with life events. High socia…
Impact of Gender, Menstrual Cycle Phase, and Oral Contraceptives on the Activity of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis
OBJECTIVE: Results from animal and human studies suggest that disregulations of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are involved in several behavioral, circulatory, endocrine, and immune disorders with clear-cut gender differences in disease prevalence. The aim of the present study was to investigate sex-specific HPA response patterns with a focus on the contribution of gonadal steroids as possible mediators. METHODS: A total of 81 heal…
Burnout, Perceived Stress, and Cortisol Responses to Awakening
OBJECTIVE: The effects of burnout and perceived stress on early morning free cortisol levels after awakening were investigated in a group of teachers. Previous studies revealed that cortisol levels show a significant increase after awakening, with high intraindividual stability. METHODS: Sixty-six teachers from local public schools (42 women and 24 men, mean age 42+/-5 years) were asked to sample saliva for cortisol analysis on 3 consecutive days…
No Evidence for a Close Relationship between Personality Traits and Circadian Cortisol Rhythm or a Single Cortisol Stress Response
Personality traits measured with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised did not show associations with basal or stimulated concentrations of cortisol in a sample of 81 subjects. Cortisol responses to a single exposure to psychosocial stress as well as circadian salivary-free cortisol patterns did not distinguish between subjects with high or low scores on Extraversion, Neuroticism, or Psychoticism, respectively
Job Strain and Anger Expression Predict Early Morning Elevations in Salivary Cortisol
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to test the hypothesis that high job demands and low job control (job strain) are associated with elevated free cortisol levels early in the working day and with reduced variability across the day and to evaluate the contribution of anger expression to this pattern. METHODS: One hundred five school teachers (41 men and 64 women) classified 12 months earlier as high (N = 48) or low (N = 57) in job strai…
Sex Differences in Glucocorticoid Sensitivity of Proinflammatory Cytokine Production After Psychosocial Stress
OBJECTIVE: Men and women show marked differences in susceptibility to disorders related to the immune system. These gender differences have been proposed to be mediated by functional interactions of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axes. A potential mechanism involved in this interaction is the glucocorticoid (GC) sensitivity of relevant target tissues for GC. Therefore, the aim of the study report…
Two formulas for computation of the area under the curve represent measures of total hormone concentration versus time-dependent change
Social support and oxytocin interact to suppress cortisol and subjective responses to psychosocial stress
Dissociation Between Reactivity of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis and the Sympathetic-Adrenal-Medullary System to Repeated Psychosocial Stress
From these data we conclude that habituation to psychosocial stress seems to be specific for a given response system. Although HPA responses quickly habituate, the sympathetic nervous system shows rather uniform activation patterns with repeated exposure to psychosocial challenge
Compliance With Saliva Sampling Protocols
OBJECTIVE: Ambulatory saliva collections for subsequent analysis of free cortisol levels are now frequently applied to measure adrenocortical activity in healthy subjects and patient populations. Despite the prime importance of accurate timing of saliva collection outside the laboratory, no data are available on the compliance of study participants following a given sampling protocol. This study investigated how accurately subjects adhered to the…
Socioeconomic Status and Stress-Related Biological Responses Over the Working Day
OBJECTIVES: The influence of low socioeconomic status on cardiovascular disease may be mediated in part by sustained activation of stress-related autonomic and neuroendocrine processes. We hypothesized that low socioeconomic status would be associated with heightened ambulatory blood pressure and cortisol output over the working day. METHODS: One hundred eight men and 94 women from the Whitehall II epidemiological cohort participated. Blood press…
Sex Differences in Pain and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenocortical Responses to Opioid Blockade
OBJECTIVE: Sex differences in pain sensitivity and stress reactivity have been well documented. Little is known about the role of the endogenous opioid system in these differences. This study was conducted to compare adrenocortical, pain sensitivity, and blood pressure responses to opioid blockade using naltrexone in men and women. METHODS: Twenty-six participants completed 2 sessions during which placebo or 50 mg of naltrexone was administered, …
Effort–Reward Imbalance, Overcommitment, and Measures of Cortisol and Blood Pressure Over the Working Day
Objective: To assess the biological correlates of effort–reward imbalance and overcommitment to work using measurements over the working day. Methods: Participants were 197 working men and women aged 45 to 59 years, recruited from the Whitehall II epidemiological cohort. Salivary cortisol was sampled on waking, 30 minutes later, and then at 2-hour intervals from 8:00 hours to 22:00 hours. Blood pressure was measured every 20 minutes using ambulat…
Work stress, socioeconomic status and neuroendocrine activation over the working day
Medicine (42 works) · Psychology (40 works) · Stress Responses and Cortisol (35 works) · Internal Medicine (30 works) · Internal Medicine (27 works) · Hydrocortisone (22 works) · Clinical Psychology (20 works) · Endocrinology (19 works) · Endocrinology (15 works) · Psychiatry (14 works)