THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SES AND HAIR CORTISOL LEVELS DURING THE ACADEMIC YEAR: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTIONS
Open Access
- Author:
- Park, Hyun Joon
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 31, 2022
- Committee Members:
- Jose Soto, Major Field Member
Joshua Smyth, Outside Unit & Field Member
Jonathan Cook, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Karen Gasper, Major Field Member
Kristin Buss (she/her), Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- Socioeconomic status (SES)
Hair cortisol
Social psychological interventions - Abstract:
- OBJECTIVE: Ph.D. students from lower-SES backgrounds tend to experience lower levels of social integration and greater doubt about their fit in doctoral educational (Park, Ruberton, et al., 2022). This suggests that lower-SES doctoral students, compared to those higher in SES, may experience more psychological stress and adverse events in graduate school. However, little is known about how academic settings may influence lower-SES students’ accumulated cortisol levels, a potential biological stress mechanism by which lower SES may lead to educational disparities. Cortisol from hair offers an opportunity to assess accumulated cortisol. In the present study, I first examine whether students who report being lower in SES at the beginning of graduate school show evidence of chronic adversity leading to impaired HPA-axis functionality (hypocortisolism) or recent stress indicative of hyperactive HPA-axis functionality (hypercortisolism). Both patterns would predict greater self-report of stress and adverse events in recent months, but hypocortisolism would suggest lower cortisol levels, and a weak or negative association of stress/adversity with cortisol, while hypercortisolism would suggest higher cortisol levels and a stronger positive association of stress/adversity with cortisol. Second, controlling for baseline cortisol levels, I examine whether any patterns that emerge before graduate school persist during the academic year. If lower SES is a risk factor for experiencing greater stress, social-psychological interventions that help people respond more effectively to stressful situations may reduce any association between SES and cortisol. METHOD: As part of a longitudinal project, incoming Ph.D. students completed baseline measures at the beginning of their first year and then were randomly assigned to complete control, affirmation, or social-belonging interventions. A subset (N = 107) also provided hair samples to assess cortisol levels between one and three times across the year. Students’ self-report of psychological stress and adverse events were assessed throughout the year. RESULTS: Both at baseline and during the academic year, lower-SES students had significantly more psychological stress and experienced more adverse events than higher-SES students. At baseline, cortisol levels did not differ as a function of SES. However, among lower-SES students, experiencing more psychological stress was associated with lower cortisol levels. There was no association between psychological stress and cortisol for higher-SES students. During the academic year, even after controlling for baseline cortisol, lower-SES students, compared to higher-SES students, had marginally lower levels of cortisol. Further, compared to higher-SES students, lower-SES students had a smaller cortisol response in times of experiencing more stress and adverse events, such as life hassles and engaging in upward social comparisons, which suggests a pattern of hypocortisolism. Psychological interventions attenuated the association between SES and cortisol levels during the academic year. Lower SES was associated with lower cortisol among students in the control condition, but not the intervention conditions (i.e., affirmation and belonging). CONCLUSION: Results suggest that lower-SES students, despite experiencing more stress and adverse events in graduate school, did not show any evidence of hypercortisolism. Indeed, patterns were more suggestive of hypocortisolism. Social psychological interventions may help attenuate the association between SES and cortisol and potentially lead to more adaptive cortisol levels for students who may be more likely to experience threat in academic settings.