Salivary Cortisol and α-Amylase Production at Awakening is Associated with Positivity (POS) Levels in Healthy Young Subjects

Vittorio Pasquali (), Cristina Mihaela Ghiciuc, Valeria Castellani, Gian Vittorio Caprara, Guido Alessandri, Raffaele D’Amelio, Vincenzo Ziparo, Fabio Scarinci and Francesca Romana Patacchioli
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Vittorio Pasquali: Sapienza University of Rome
Cristina Mihaela Ghiciuc: University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Grigore T. Popa”
Valeria Castellani: Sapienza University of Rome
Gian Vittorio Caprara: Sapienza University of Rome
Guido Alessandri: Sapienza University of Rome
Raffaele D’Amelio: Sapienza University of Rome
Vincenzo Ziparo: Sapienza University of Rome
Fabio Scarinci: IRCCS – Fondazione Bietti
Francesca Romana Patacchioli: IRCCS – Fondazione Bietti

Journal of Happiness Studies, 2021, vol. 22, issue 5, No 10, 2165-2176

Abstract: Abstract A large variety of positive outcomes including social adjustment, psychological well-being and health, have been recently closely associated with positivity (POS). On the assumption that differences in the POS degree might be associated with different individual neuroendocrine assets that enables people to cope effectively with stress, the present study examined the association between POS, salivary cortisol and α-Amylase (α-Amy) production in a group of healthy male volunteers university students, respectively scoring high (POS-H, N = 10) and low (POS-L, N = 10) in POS. Participants were selected from a larger sample of 300 students of the Medical School at Sapienza University of Rome on the basis of their positivity level: POS was analysed and the upper and lower 25% were invited to participate in this new study. The findings report a distinct salivary cortisol and α-Amy production in the study population: in comparison to the POS-H group, the POS-L subjects presented a lower salivary cortisol awake response (CAR) and a flattened α-Amy production at 30 and 60 min after awakening. In addition, salivary cortisol and α-Amy areas under the curve (AUCs), which were calculated as indicators of the two subclinical biomarkers production during the first hour after awakening, resulted significantly lower in the POS-L group in comparison to the POS-H group. Further studies on larger and different populations are needed to definitively confirm that the different cortisol and α-Amy secretion patterns between POS-H and POS-L individuals is associated with a potentially better capacity to preserving an adequate quality of life in individuals being equipped with a system apparently able to better respond to external and/or internal stimuli. Lastly, a better understanding of the biological correlates of POS is crucial to design psychological interventions able to take advantage of individuals’ assets and thus to integrate and strengthen the efficacy of traditional medications.

Keywords: Positive orientation (POS); Salivary cortisol awakening response (CAR); Salivary α-amylase awakening response; Salivary cortisol AUC; Salivary α-amylase AUC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:22:y:2021:i:5:d:10.1007_s10902-020-00314-9

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DOI: 10.1007/s10902-020-00314-9

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