Cited by 336Stress Responses and CortisolPersonality Traits and PsychologyMemory and Neural Mechanisms

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 67 of the 69 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 40 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood

Open access

Abstract

Self-esteem, the value we place on ourselves, has been associated with effects on health, life expectancy, and life satisfaction. Correlated with self-esteem is internal locus of control, the individual's perception of being in control of his or her outcomes. Recently, variations in self-esteem and internal locus of control have been shown to predict the neuroendocrine cortisol response to stress. Cumulative exposure to high levels of cortisol over the lifetime is known to be related to hippocampal atrophy. We therefore examined hippocampal volume and cortisol regulation, to investigate potential biological mechanisms related to self-esteem. We investigated 16 healthy young (age range 20-26 years of age) and 23 healthy elderly subjects (age range 60-84 years). The young subjects were exposed to a psychosocial stress task, while the elderly subjects were assessed for their basal cortisol regulation. Structural Magnetic Resonance Images were acquired from all subjects, and volumetric analyses were performed on medial temporal lobe structures, and whole brain gray matter. Standardized neuropsychological assessments in the elderly were performed to assess levels of cognitive performance, and to exclude the possibility of neurodegenerative disease. Self-esteem and internal locus of control were significantly correlated with hippocampal volume in both young and elderly subjects. In the young, the cortisol response to the psychosocial stress task was significantly correlated with both hippocampal volume and levels of self-esteem and locus of control, while in the elderly, these personality traits moderated age-related patterns of cognitive decline, cortisol regulation, and global brain volume decline.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

In healthy young and elderly adults, higher self-esteem and internal locus of control were associated with larger hippocampal volumes, and in young men low self-esteem/internal locus of control predicted a larger cortisol response to psychosocial stress. In elderly subjects, low self-esteem/internal locus of control moderated age-related declines in hippocampal volume, cognition, global gray matter, and awakening cortisol regulation.

Key findings

  • Self-esteem and internal locus of control were significantly correlated with left and right hippocampal volume in both young and elderly subjects; correlations ranged from r = 0.42 to r = 0.71, with only one not reaching significance.
  • Comparing extreme groups, young low-SEC subjects had a 12% smaller left hippocampus and 13% smaller right hippocampus than high-SEC subjects; elderly low-SEC subjects had a 17.4% smaller left hippocampus and 15.8% smaller right hippocampus.
  • In young subjects, low SEC showed a significantly larger cortisol response to the psychosocial stress task (F = 6.53, P < 0.05), with no differences in mental arithmetic performance.
  • In elderly subjects, age-related declines were significant in the low-SEC group but not the high-SEC group for hippocampal volume (left r = −0.75, P = 0.008; right r = −0.64, P = 0.03), awakening cortisol (r = −0.72, P < 0.008), and total brain gray matter (r = −0.75, P < 0.008). Mediation analyses were not significant (Sobel ts < 1.4, Ps > 0.15).

Methods

  • Two independent cross-sectional samples: 16 healthy young men aged 20–26 years (mean 22.45) and 23 healthy elderly men and women aged 60–84 years (16 women, 7 men; mean 70.3 ± 7.8). Exclusion criteria included current or past depression and head trauma.
  • Young subjects underwent the Montreal Imaging Stress Task with saliva cortisol sampled at −30, −20, 0, 20, 40, 50, and 60 min; elderly subjects provided basal saliva samples over 12 months at awakening, 30 min after awakening, 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and bedtime. Structural MRI was used for hippocampal, amygdala, and whole-brain gray matter volumetry.
  • Psychological measures included the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and a locus of control measure; elderly subjects also received MMSE-3M and ADAS-cog. Analysis used k-means clustering into high/low self-esteem/internal locus of control groups, t tests/ANOVA, Pearson correlations with Bonferroni correction, and hierarchical regression mediation analyses.

Limitations

  • The paper states the cross-sectional design prevents firm causal conclusions and that longitudinal studies are needed; it also notes other unmeasured factors such as social support and optimism, and no IQ data.
  • The paper states methodological differences between the young and elderly studies: cortisol was assessed as acute stress response in young subjects using salivettes and fluorescence immunoassay, but as basal regulation in elderly subjects using filter paper and radioimmunoassay; the young sample was all male while the elderly sample was mostly female.
  • The paper states sample sizes were relatively small, limiting power for mediation analyses; it also notes possible self-affirmation or carry-over effects in young subjects because personality measures were assessed close in time to the stress task.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.06.014

Cites

67 of 67 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

1 tests recomputed · 0 with the reported and recomputed p on opposite sides of .05

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 40 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 27
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 15
35 of 35
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Little is known about possible biological mechanisms underlying self-esteem, or underlying the association between self-esteem and health and disease.

    “Little is known about possible biological mechanisms underlying self-esteem, or underlying the association between selfesteem, and health and disease.”
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Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Statistics that don’t add up

Each reported p-value recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom.

  • Inconsistent p-value: (z = 2.62, p = .001

    Minor

    The paper reports p = .001 here; recomputing from the test statistic and its degrees of freedom gives p = .009 (two-tailed). The check cannot tell whether the statistic or the p-value is the misprint.

    Reported p = .001 · recomputed p = .009

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Statistics recomputed

Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.

  • Doesn’t add upz = 2.62reported p = .001 · recomputed p = .009

    “(z = 2.62, p = .001”

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Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Age-ADAS correlation has opposite signs in the results and table

    Minor

    The results text reports a negative correlation between age and ADAS-cog scores in the elderly sample, whereas the table reports a positive correlation of the same magnitude. The direction of this reported age association is therefore inconsistent.

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Citations

Cites

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Show all 69 references

2 of the 69 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Griffore, 1990, Gender differences in correlates of college students' self-esteem, Coll. Stud. J., 24, 287
  2. Markus, 1991, The role of the self-concept in aging, Annu. Rev. Gerontol. Geriatr., 11, 111
  3. Sobel, 1982, Asymptotic intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models, vol. 1982, 290

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Metadata

Authors
Pruessner, J. C., Baldwin, M. W., Dedovic, K., Renwick, R., Mahani, N. K., Lord, C., Meaney, M., & Lupien, S.
Affiliations
  • Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (CA)
  • McGill University (CA)
  • Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CA)
Corresponding author
Pruessner, Jens C.
Venue
NeuroImage
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2005-12
Volume
28
Issue
4
Pages
815-826
ISSN
1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2083336847
Cited by
336
References
69
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 27
FWCI
4.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • KOPS (University of Konstanz) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (15000, 67071)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Keywords
self-esteem, internal locus of control, hippocampal volume, cortisol regulation, psychosocial stress, hippocampal atrophy, aging, cognitive decline, medial temporal lobe, personality traits, neuroendocrine stress response
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Amygdala, Cerebrospinal Fluid, Education, Female, Hippocampus, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Personality Tests, Psychological Tests, Saliva, Self Concept, Stress, Psychological

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