Stress and Body Shape

Stress-Induced Cortisol Secretion Is Consistently Greater Among Women With Central Fat

Bibliographic Data

ID19305331
AuthorsElissa S Epel (0000-0002-9334-4720, University of California, Los Angeles), Bruce S Mcewen (0000-0002-5288-7892, University of California, Los Angeles), Bruce Mcewen, Teresa Seeman (0000-0001-8583-4239, University of California, Los Angeles), Karen Matthews (0000-0002-7272-0520), Karen A Matthews (0000-0001-8193-2202, University of California, Los Angeles), Grace Castellazzo (University of California, Los Angeles), Kelly D Brownell (University of California, Los Angeles), Jennifer Bell (0000-0001-9571-0715, University of California, Los Angeles), Jeannette R Ickovics (0000-0001-5361-8160, University of California, Los Angeles)
Year2000
Volume62
Issue5
Pages623-632
Publication date2000-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychosomatic Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-3174 • E-ISSN: 1534-7796
PublisherOvid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/00006842-200009000-00005
PMID11020091
OpenAlexW2051714598
LanguageEN
Citations received66
References cited35

OBJECTIVE: Excessive central fat puts one at greater risk of disease. In animal studies, stress-induced cortisol secretion has been shown to increase central fat. The objective of this study was to assess whether women with central fat distribution (as indicated by a high waist-to-hip ratio [WHR]), across a range of body mass indexes, display consistently heightened cortisol reactivity to repeated laboratory stressors. METHODS: Fifty-nine healthy premenopausal women, 30 with a high WHR and 29 with a low WHR, were exposed to consecutive laboratory sessions over 4 days (three stress sessions and one rest session). During these sessions, cortisol and psychological responses were assessed. RESULTS: Women with a high WHR evaluated the laboratory challenges as more threatening, performed more poorly on them, and reported more chronic stress. These women secreted significantly more cortisol during the first stress session than women with a low WHR. Furthermore, lean women with a high WHR lacked habituation to stress in that they continued to secrete significantly more cortisol in response to now familiar challenges (days 2 and 3) than lean women with a low WHR. CONCLUSIONS: Central fat distribution is related to greater psychological vulnerability to stress and cortisol reactivity. This may be especially true among lean women, who did not habituate to repeated stress. The current cross-sectional findings support the hypothesis that stress-induced cortisol secretion may contribute to central fat and demonstrate a link between psychological stress and risk for disease

Analysis of variance · Audiology · Chronic stress · Habituation · Hydrocortisone · Obesity · Stress (linguistics) · Stress measures · Stressor · Waist · Waist–hip ratio · Clinical Psychology · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Endocrinology · Growth Hormone and Insulin-like Growth Factors · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Physiology · Psychology · Stress Responses and Cortisol

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