Morning cortisol levels in delinquent and normal population adolescents: does cortisol qualify as a stable marker in adolescence?

Background: Low cortisol levels are linked to a range of human behaviors and pathologies. However, it is not clear whether cortisol levels are a stable biological marker in adolescence. Therefore, in the current longitudinal study, the stability of having a low or high morning cortisol level during adolescence is studied in a delinquent and a general population sample. Methods: Adolescent boys were included from a delinquent sample (n = 45, 13.7 ± 0.7 years) and a general population sample (n = 231, 11.1 ± 0.5 years). Morning salivary cortisol was measured directly after awakening and 30 minutes after awakening, in early adolescence (T0) and at five year follow-up (T1). Ranking analyses were used to specifically analyze the stability of morning cortisol levels. Possible confounding influences of age, pubertal stage and smoking behavior were taken into account. results: There were no significant correlations in cortisol rankings between T0 and T1 in both samples. Conclusions: No evidence for stability of cortisol levels during adolescence in a delinquent population as well as in a general population sample was found. Implications of these findings for the interpretation and expectation of low cortisol as a stable marker for (antisocial) behavior are discussed. 21536_marjan_de_vries_080212.indd 80 09-02-12 12:50