CORRELATION BETWEEN SALIVARY CORTISOL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS INDICATORS DURING A DRIVING COURSE

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of stress of a practical, thirty-hour driving course on changes in salivary cortisol concentration and on changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The second objective was to determine the relation between the style of coping with stress (psychological indicator) and changes in the assessed biological parameters. All volunteers aged 18-30 years completed the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) before the start of the course. They were divided into control (n=15) and experimental (n=18) groups. In the experimental group saliva samples to measure cortisol were collected from each participant: before the start of the course, before the 1st, 13th and 28th driving hour, and blood pressure was measured before the course, during the 15th and 30th hour of the course. Participants in the control group had one saliva sample taken and their blood pressure was measured once at the same time. The results suggest that cortisol concentration in saliva correlates with the hour of the course. Systolic and diastolic pressure also correlates with the hour of the course. CISS test related differences among the individuals in copying with stress (sex as well as age-related) but they did not correlate with the cortisol and blood pressure responses. A driving course is a stress factor that causes changes in salivary cortisol concentration and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The style of coping with stress does not correlate with changes in the salivary cortisol concentration during the course. Changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure during the driving course do not depend on the way of coping with stress.