Acute and chronic effects of exams week on cortisol production in undergraduate students

Abstract

ABSTRACTUndergraduate students experience many levels of stress throughout their university trajectory. The pressure to achieve good results highlight the exams week in the Universities as a stimulus that triggers psychosocial stress and increased release of cortisol. Considering the increasingly experience an undue amount of stress, we aimed in this study to investigate the short- and long-term effects of exams week on HPA axis in undergraduates by the cortisol production. Twenty-eight undergraduates aged 18-24 years from biological sciences during the final exams’ week at the end of the school year collected hair and saliva for cortisol measures. Hair cortisol was significantly higher in exams month. They exhibited cortisol rhythmicity and preserved CAR (cortisol awakening response) even under psychosocial stress. The exams week is a trigger for psychosocial stress, however, did not generate significant short-term changes in cortisol rhythmicity. Thus, it is evident that young people adapt to the stressful stimulus, avoiding a possible trigger for mental illness.