Influence of Social Defeat Stress on the Rewarding Effects of Drugs of Abuse

Perceived stress and reference ranges of hair cortisol in healthy adolescents

BackgroundChronic stress during adolescence has usually been evaluated through subjective measures, leaving aside objective measures such as hair cortisol concentrations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide reference ranges for hair cortisol concentrations by sex and age and to study the relationship between subjective and objective measures of stress and temporal stability.MethodsThe participants were 170 adolescents aged between 12 and 14 years (mean = 12.78 years; standard deviation = 0.71 years; 52.40% girls) who completed the Perceived Stress Scale 4 and had their hair sampled.ResultsThe results revealed hair cortisol concentrations ranging from 0.07 pg/mg to 9.54 pg/mg. Su…