Bibian van der Voorn

174 CHAPTER 11 TABLE 2. Summary of articles describing sex differences in cortisol awakening response (CAR) Author (year) Sample size Age Sampling points Medium Results Adam (2010) 26 230 17.04 ± 0.36 yrs 0 and 40 min after awakening Saliva No sex differences; pubertal status not assessed Bae (2015) 36 138 (70 controls) 10.7±1.7 yrs 0 and 30 min after awakening Saliva Higher levels in girls at awakening and 30 min after awakening, no sex differences in awakening response Bouma (2009) 41 644 16.13±0.59 yrs 0 and 30 min after awakening Saliva Higher basal levels in girls, no difference in awakening responses Bright (2014) 40 47 12-24 months 0 and 30 min after awakening Saliva No sex differences; pubertal status not assessed Dietrich (2013) 42 1604 11.1±0.55 yrs 0 and 30 min after awakening Saliva AUCg and absolute cortisol values higher in girls, AUCi no sex differences Fransson (2014) 31 157 14-16 yrs 0, 30 and 60 min after awakening Saliva Higher CAR in girls Hatzinger (2007) 43 102 4.91±0.44 yrs 0, 10, 20 and 30 min after awakening Saliva Higher CAR in girls Jones (2006) 14 140 7-9 yrs 0 and 30 min after awakening Saliva CAR present in boys, not girls Kuhlman (2015) 38 121 12.8±2.3 yrs 0 and 45 min after awakening Saliva No sex differences; pubertal status not assessed Martikainen (2013) 29 252 8.1±0.3 yrs 0, 15 and 30 min after awakening Saliva Higher AUCg in girls, same increase and AUCi Michels (2012) 18 385 5-10 yrs 0, 30 and 60 min after awakening Saliva No sex differences; pubertal status not assessed Morin-Major (2016) 28 88 14.5±1.8 yrs 0 and 30 min after awakening Saliva Correlated to sex, higher CAR in girls Osika (2007) 15 84 9.9±0.55 yrs 0 and 15 min after awakening Saliva No sex differences; pubertal status not assessed Pruessner (1997) 44 42 11.16±1.99 yrs On 3 days: 0, 10, 20 and 30 min after awakening Saliva Marginal differences: higher in girls Susman (2007) 16 111 Boys: 9, 11 or 13 yrs; girls: 8, 10 or 12 yrs 0, 20 and 40 min after awakening Saliva No sex differences; pubertal status not associated with reactivity Tzortzi (2009) 17 21 10-14 yrs From waking: every 20 min until 3 hours after awakening Saliva No sex differences; pubertal status not assessed Vanaelst (2013) 21 355 5-10 yrs 0, 30 and 60 min after awakening Saliva No sex differences; pubertal status not assessed Williams (2013) 27 27 9.13±1.41 yrs 0 and 30 min after awakening Saliva No sex differences; pubertal status not assessed However, no sex differences were found with regard to diurnal slope or evening levels. Netherton et al. (2004) 37 (n=129, age: 12.8±0.19 years) found higher morning cortisol levels in mid- to post-pubertal girls compared to boys, but no sex differences were found in evening cortisol levels. In pre- to early- pubertal children, no sex differences were found in either morning or evening cortisol levels. Contrastingly, Kuhlman et al. (2015) 38 (n=121, age: 12.8±2.3 years) reported no sex differences in cortisol levels at awakening or in linear decline, although girls showedmore deceleration of the diurnal decline between dinner and bedtime than boys. Matchock et al. (2007) 39 (n=120, age: boys: 9, 11 or 13 years; girls: 8, 10 or 12 years) found an earlier cortisol peak in the morning in girls, and at pubertal stage 2 a lower morning cortisol levels in girls. However, although a pubertal stage effect was found, there were no sex differences in the AUCg.