Salivary cortisol and social status among Dominican men

Studies of nonhuman primates indicate that social subordinance associates with chronic elevated cortisol, but this finding has not been replicated among humans. This topic was examined in a study of 31 healthy adult male Dominican villagers ages 17 to 49 years. Each subject's mean cortisol level was calculated using multiple time-standardized salivary cortisol samples (minimum = 6, mean = 14.8 samples per subject) determined by radioimmunoassay. Semistructured ethnographic interviews were used to collect several measures of social status. Data were analyzed with a backward stepwise multivariate linear regression model. Partial regression statistics revealed four significant associations with cortisol: (i) men with reputations for illicit social behavior had higher cortisol; (ii) men who reported more frequent distressed mood had higher cortisol; (iii) men rated as less trustworthy, agreeable, influential, and helpful by their peers had higher cortisol; and (iv) men whose fathers were absent as a childhood caretaker had higher cortisol. No associations were found between cortisol and (a) a composite of educational attainment, income, and material wealth; (b) frequency of tobacco consumption; (c) frequency of perceived social stressors; or (d) a composite of number of children and dependents. (C) Academic Press.