TY - JOUR
T1 - Genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in cortisol level and circadian rhythm in middle childhood
AU - Van Hulle, Carol A.
AU - Shirtcliff, Elizabeth A.
AU - Lemery, Kathryn
AU - Goldsmith, H. Hill
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health ( R01 MH59785 and R37 MH50560 to Goldsmith) and the Wisconsin Center for Affective Science ( P50 MH069315 ). Infrastructure support was provided by the Waisman Center via a core grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development ( P30 HD03352 ). Salary support was provided by a Career Development Award for Shirtcliff (K01 MH077687).
PY - 2012/6
Y1 - 2012/6
N2 - Individuals differ widely in cortisol output over the day, but the etiology of these individual differences remains poorly understood. Twin studies are useful for quantifying genetic and environmental influences on the variation in cortisol output, lending insight into underlying influences on the components of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. Salivary cortisol was assayed on 446 twin pairs (157 monozygotic, 289 dizygotic; ages 7-8). Parents helped youth collect saliva 30. min after waking, mid-afternoon, and 30. min prior to bedtime across 3 consecutive days. We used hierarchical linear modeling to extract predicted cortisol levels and to distinguish cortisol's diurnal rhythm using a slopes-as-outcome piecewise growth curve model; two slopes captured the morning-to-afternoon and afternoon-to-evening rhythm, respectively. Separate genetic models were then fit to cortisol level at waking, mid-afternoon, and evening as well as the diurnal rhythm across morning-to-afternoon and afternoon-to-evening hours. Three results from these analyses are striking. First, morning-to-afternoon cortisol level showed the highest additive genetic variance (heritability), consistent with prior research. Second, cortisol's diurnal rhythm had an additive genetic component, particularly across the morning-to-afternoon hours. In contrast, additive genetic variation did not significantly contribute to variation in afternoon-to-evening slope. Third, the majority of variance in cortisol concentration was associated with shared family environments. In summary, both genetic and environmental factors influence cortisol's circadian rhythm, and they do so differentially across the day.
AB - Individuals differ widely in cortisol output over the day, but the etiology of these individual differences remains poorly understood. Twin studies are useful for quantifying genetic and environmental influences on the variation in cortisol output, lending insight into underlying influences on the components of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. Salivary cortisol was assayed on 446 twin pairs (157 monozygotic, 289 dizygotic; ages 7-8). Parents helped youth collect saliva 30. min after waking, mid-afternoon, and 30. min prior to bedtime across 3 consecutive days. We used hierarchical linear modeling to extract predicted cortisol levels and to distinguish cortisol's diurnal rhythm using a slopes-as-outcome piecewise growth curve model; two slopes captured the morning-to-afternoon and afternoon-to-evening rhythm, respectively. Separate genetic models were then fit to cortisol level at waking, mid-afternoon, and evening as well as the diurnal rhythm across morning-to-afternoon and afternoon-to-evening hours. Three results from these analyses are striking. First, morning-to-afternoon cortisol level showed the highest additive genetic variance (heritability), consistent with prior research. Second, cortisol's diurnal rhythm had an additive genetic component, particularly across the morning-to-afternoon hours. In contrast, additive genetic variation did not significantly contribute to variation in afternoon-to-evening slope. Third, the majority of variance in cortisol concentration was associated with shared family environments. In summary, both genetic and environmental factors influence cortisol's circadian rhythm, and they do so differentially across the day.
KW - Behavior genetics
KW - Cortisol
KW - Diurnal rhythm
KW - HPA axis
KW - Twins
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U2 - 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.04.014
DO - 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.04.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 22583671
AN - SCOPUS:84862243512
SN - 0018-506X
VL - 62
SP - 36
EP - 42
JO - Hormones and Behavior
JF - Hormones and Behavior
IS - 1
ER -