Salivary cortisol levels in the outlier population of college students (2016)

Undergraduates: Caroline Owens, Gioia Skeltis Jyotsna Panthee; Ritu Malla; Joseph DelFerro; Jessie VanGassbeck; Sofia Edelman

Faculty Advisor: Mark Sorensen
Department: Chemistry

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Psychosocial stress is associated with a number of adverse health outcomes, including physical fatigue and depression, yet is notoriously difficult to measure. College students experience stressors on a daily basis, often managing busy schedules and various social obligations. We investigated the association between perceived stress, measured using the Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen 1994) and salivary cortisol levels measured using an ELISA assay in a sample of 79 UNC undergraduates. We examined self-reported stressors using ethnographic interviews and questionnaires in a subsample. Our analyses will examine variation in morning and evening cortisol levels and perceived stress, and will compare our data with published population data matched for age and gender. We will then use the morning cortisol level as a basis for comparison between biological stress and perceived stress levels. Our research aims to quantify measures of stress in college students in order to bring awareness of the perceived and biological impacts of daily stressors for the college population. This project has been reviewed by the UNC IRB and we anticipate approval pending minor revisions.