STRESSORS AND MOOD MEASURED ON A MOMENTARY BASIS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SALIVARY CORTISOL SECRETION

Effects of past, current, and anticipated naturalistic daily stressors and of affect on salivary cortisol levels were examined. Participants (120) reported on stressors and affect 6 x /day in response to a prep rogrammed wristwatch. Twenty min after each assessment they took a sam ple of saliva for cortisol analysis. Both the experience of a current stressor and anticipating a stressor were associated with increased sa livary cortisol levels. Average increases in cortisol were relatively low, but inter-individual variability in this response existed. Stress ors also were associated with lower positive affect and higher negativ e affect. Negative affect was associated with higher cortisol levels a nd positive affect was associated with lower cortisol levels. Daily st ressors were not significant predictors of cortisol secretion when aff ect was controlled. Momentary assessment of daily stressors and of sal ivary cortisol proved to be a useful tool for examining psychoendocrin ological processes in the natural environment. 1998 (C) Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.