A recent study has revealed that morning cortisol concentration in the saliva, as a biomarker of stress, is associated with tobacco use in adolescents.
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Photo: Tobacco Use in Adolescents | InStyleHealth |
The participants of the study were then divided into
quartiles of saliva cortisol levels and Poisson regression models were utilized
to identify its correlation with tobacco usage.
The adjusted models revealed that increasing quartiles
of morning cortisol was correlated with a 27% increase in the possibility of
reporting any tobacco use within 3 years.
A morning cortisol was also linked to cigarette and
snus use. Similar impact of morning cortisol was reported for the period of use
of cigarettes, snus, and overall tobacco.
However, afternoon cortisol levels were less consistently
correlated with tobacco use findings.
Researchers said that the findings of this study shed
light into the biological mechanisms linking stress and tobacco use. Further
research should address the possible linkage between life-course negative events,
dysregulation of the stress response system, and the onset of tobacco use in
animal and epidemiologic studies that simultaneously address the role of
genetic and socioenvironmental factors.
For complete details of the clinical research, click
here.
Source: J Adolesc Health 2021;68:758-764