1. Annotated Bibliography 1
This paper presents the measurements of cortisol in 58 post-pubertal adolescents.
High levels of cortison are associated with aggressive behavior, trait anxiety, and
depressed mood symptoms. The measurements were taken from the salivary samples
of 29 boys and 29 girls ranging from the ages of 14 – 15. The cortisol measures were
taken in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. Besides these measurements, they
were also submitted to psychological tests and classified as having CDI-depressive
symptoms, STAIC- trait anxiety symptoms, and EATQ-R- aggressive behavior
symptoms. The results of the cortisol measurements showed that the flattered diurnal
cortisol profile, or high levels of the hormone within the system of the patient, was
strongly associated with depressed mood and trait anxiety symptoms, but weakly,
,linked to aggressive behavior symptom. The studies showed that a small percentage of
the adolescents may have been suffering from major depression.
This study furthers knowledge in diagnosing and treating emotionally altering symptoms
in adolescents because it helps understand what the effects of the changing levels of
the cortisol profile do to the patients to affect their behavior.