Cortisol fluctuates with increases and decreases in negative affect

Prior studies have reported cortisol secretion to be primarily influenced b y negative affect, but less is known about cortisol activity during states of activation involving increased positive affect and decreased negative af fect. On separate days, 30 healthy young men experienced: an activating and humorous video; a speech stressor: and a resting control period. Cortisol was measured in saliva before and after each 30-min mood induction. Positiv e affect (activation) was increased similarly by both the video and the spe ech compared to rest (p < .0001). Negative affect increased during the spee ch and decreased ;during the video (p < .001). Cortisol increased only duri ng the speech (p < .0001). Following the video, however, cortisol was decre ased significantly (P < .0001). Rest day cortisol revealed no differences a cross periods (p > .1). These results suggest that the hypothalamic-pituita ry-adrenocortical axis is a dynamic system influenced by changes in negativ e affect irrespective of the experience of generalized activation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd, All rights reserved.