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 accessAbstract
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
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
37 Own result · 24 Not checked yet · 15 Own method · 4 Own interpretation · 1 No basis given
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Self-esteem and internal locus of control were significantly correlated with hippocampal volume in both young and elderly subjects.”
- Also stated in: § Hippocampal volume differences between low and high SEC · boosted
“In two samples, then, comprising very different age groups, low selfesteem and low internal locus of control were clearly associated with lower hippocampal volume (see Fig. 1).”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · boosted
“A clear association between these personality measures and hippocampal volume was evident in both populations.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Abstract
boostedcorrelationaln = 2 ·- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Also stated in: § Hippocampal volume differences between low and high SEC · boosted
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Examining the continuous measures of self-esteem and internal locus of control separately, in both young and old subjects, showed that both were significantly correlated with left and right hippocampal volumes.These correlations ranged from r = 0.42 to r = 0.71 in the young and old subjects, with only one of them not reaching statistical significance (see Fig. 2).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Hippocampal volume correlations with measures of self-esteem and internal locus of control
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Correlations between self-esteem or internal locus of control, with age, years of education, amygdala volume, whole brain gray and white matter, or CSF, were generally nonsignificant and so could not easily account for the association between the personality variables and hippocampal volume (all r with P > 0.20 except two; see Table 2).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Hippocampal volume correlations with measures of self-esteem and internal locus of control
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Performing a two-factor mixed design (group by time) ANOVA with the SEC groups as independent, and the seven cortisol samples as dependent measures, we found a significant main effect of SEC on the cortisol stress response ( F = 6.53;P < 0.05; see Fig. 3).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“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”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Abstract
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Replicating these earlier findings, it was found that self-esteem correlated strongly positively with internal locus of control (r = 0.67, P < 0.001 in the young sample, and r = 0.70, P < 0.001 in the old sample: as in the previous research, the correlations between self-esteem and external locus of control were only weak to moderate: young: r = À0.17,P > 0.20; old: r = À0.55,P < 0.05).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Statistical analysis
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Finally, age was found to be weakly negatively correlated with the aggregated cortisol response to awakening over the 12-month period (r = À0.37,P = 0.09), giving some evidence that cortisol dysregulation increased with age.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Replicating these earlier findings, it was found that self-esteem correlated strongly positively with internal locus of control (r = 0.67, P < 0.001 in the young sample, and r = 0.70, P < 0.001 in the old sample: as in the previous research, the correlations between self-esteem and external locus of control were only weak to moderate: young: r = À0.17,P > 0.20; old: r = À0.55,P < 0.05).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Statistical analysis
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Thus, replicating our previous research, it was observed that low SEC individuals showed a significantly larger cortisol response to a stressful situation (Pruessner et al., 1999b).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Pruessner et al., 1999b
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In examining the low and high SEC groups, we found that the young subjects with low SEC had a 12% smaller left hippocampus, and a 13% smaller right hippocampus, than those with high SEC ( F 1,15 = 20.06,P < 0.001, two-factor (SEC Â hemisphere) mixed design ANOVA).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Hippocampal volume differences between low and high SEC
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- It may state two separate claims as one. 27
- Probably not a substantial claim. 15
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Age by itself did not correlate with the self-esteem or locus of control scores ( P > 0.20).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Similar observations were made for our measures of cognitive performance, the modified version of the MMSE-3M (r = À0.65), and the measure for signs of cognitive impairment (ADAS-cog; r = À0.54), for the total sample.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In the elderly people, the low SEC had a 17.4% smaller left hippocampus, and a 15.8% smaller right hippocampal volume than the high SEC group ( F 1,21 = 7.88, P < 0.01, twofactor (SEC Â hemisphere) mixed design ANOVA; Table 1).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Hippocampal volume differences between low and high SEC
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“as in the previous research, the correlations between self-esteem and external locus of control were only weak to moderate: young: r = À0.17,P > 0.20; old: r = À0.55,P < 0.05).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Statistical analysis
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“We found that age was strongly negatively associated with hippocampal volume in the low SEC group (r = À0.75,P = 0.008 and r = À0.64,P = 0.03, for left and right hippocampus, respectively), but was not significantly associated in the high SEC group (r = 0.12 and 0.21; P > 0.20, respectively; Table 3).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
boostedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Expressed differently, age explained 43% to 55% of variability of left and right hippocampal volumes in the low SEC group, but less than 5% in the high SEC group.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The correlation of age with brain gray matter was significant with r = À0.75 ( P < 0.008) in the low SEC group, but failed to show a significant impact with r = À0.35 ( P > 0.20) in the high SEC group (Table 3).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“When splitting the whole group for subjects with high and low SEC, this correlation between cortisol and age became more pronounced in the low SEC group, while it was no longer present in the high SEC group.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volumes, and cortisol toxicity
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although the elderly subjects did show smaller hippocampal volumes compared to the young, the difference between high and low SEC levels was only slightly more pronounced in the elderly compared to the young (16.6% hippocampal volume difference in the elderly, versus 12.5% volume difference in the young), a difference that seems less than one should expect to result from a lifetime of neurotoxicit”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volumes, and cortisol toxicity
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Moreover, age had a differential effect on cognitive performance as a function of self-esteem and locus of control: the correlation of age with the 3M score was significant for the low SEC group, but not for the high SEC group (Table 3).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Low self-esteem has been associated with a host of negative life outcomes, including substance abuse, delinquency, unhappiness, depression, eating disorders, and worsened recovery after illnesses (see Hoyle et al., 1999;Leary and McDonald, 2003).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Hoyle et al., 1999
- Not checked yetcites Leary and McDonald, 2003
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“High self-esteem has been associated with positive characteristics such as initiative, strong coping skills, persistence in the face of challenges, happiness, and longevity (Baumeister et al., 2003).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Baumeister et al., 2003 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Briefly, chronic perceived stress can lead to poor habituation of the hypothalamicpituitary -adrenal (HPA) axis and dysregulation of glucocorticoid (i.e., cortisol) release.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Introduction
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“We assessed the cortisol response to awakening in the elderly, which has been recently reported to be associated with HC integrity such that HC damage predicts lower levels of cortisol in response to awakening (Buchanan et al., 2004;Wolf et al., 2005).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Introduction
What the sources say
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
In the paper
“We further found that these personality variables predicted the ability to habituate to repeated psychosocial stress, with subjects with low levels of self-esteem and low internal locus of control showing continuous high cortisol stress responses (Kirschbaum et al., 1995).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Kirschbaum et al., 1995 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Also, the correction for image intensity has been proven to recover most of the image artifacts present in the International Consortium of Brain Mapping MR database (Sled et al., 1998).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > MR acquisition and analysis
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Sled et al., 1998 source
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
In the paper
“Cortisol from salivettes was analyzed using a time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay with documented validity and reliability (Dressendorfer et al., 1992).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Montreal Imaging Stress Task, saliva sampling, and cortisol analysis in young subjects
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Dressendorfer et al., 1992 source
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Direct self-reported assessment of stress perception has proved relatively unsuccessful in the past, thus we focused on the standard biomarker of stress, the cortisol stress response, as a better indicator of the perceived stressfulness of the situation (Dickerson and Kemeny, 2004;Kirschbaum et al., 1992).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Montreal Imaging Stress Task, saliva sampling, and cortisol analysis in young subjects
What the sources say
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Intra-and inter-assay variability is 3.5 and 5%, respectively.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Saliva sampling and cortisol analysis in elderly subjects
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Neither age, nor hippocampal volume, self-esteem, locus of control, nor cortisol measures was significantly different between men and women in the elderly sample, thus we combined the men and women for our subsequent analyses.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Population demographics and SEC groups
plainn = 23- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“This antibody cross-reacts less than 4% with deoxycorticosterone or deoxycortisol, and less than 0.5% with any other adrenal steroid.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Saliva sampling and cortisol analysis in elderly subjects
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Consistent with previous research, then, cortisol dysregulation among elderly subjects took the form of reduced response to awakening, and this effect was associated with increasing age among subjects with low selfesteem and locus of control.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The validity of these measures for the assessment of self-esteem and locus of control has been established and shown to be generally independent of the emotional status of the subject (Bachman and O'Malley, 1977).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Neuropsychological and psychological assessment
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Bachman and O'Malley, 1977
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“We administered the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965), the most widely used and well-validated measure of global self-esteem.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Neuropsychological and psychological assessment
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Rosenberg, 1965
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In each case the two groups did not differ with respect to age and education level (Table 1).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Population demographics and SEC groups
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“It has been shown that the automatic stereotaxic transformation is as accurate as the manual procedure but shows higher stability (Collins et al., 1994).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > MR acquisition and analysis
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Collins et al., 1994 source
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In previous work with this procedure, we have established that protein content, measured in 0.1 n NaOH extracts, in salivary samples collected in this manner, varies by an average of less than 1% across a wide range of samples.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Saliva sampling and cortisol analysis in elderly subjects
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The segmentation protocol for the assessment of hippocampal volume has recently been developed by our group, and we have since been able to validate it in a number of projects (Pruessner et al., 2000(Pruessner et al., , 2001(Pruessner et al., , 2002)).”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > MR acquisition and analysis
What the sources say
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although we included cognitive assessments to control for possible signs of cognitive decline with aging (the 3M scores, for example), this is a less than ideal approach that should be revised in future studies.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Limitations and future directions
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“First, we used a cross-sectional study approach, while aiming to explain changes that are likely to occur as a result of aging.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Limitations and future directions
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although the number of subjects in both populations was rather small, thus providing only moderate power to uncover a potentially existing mediation in our subjects if existent in the general population, this casts further doubt on the explanation of the observed relationship as a consequence of cortisol neurotoxicity.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volumes, and cortisol toxicity
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Although the elderly subjects did show smaller hippocampal volumes compared to the young, the difference between high and low SEC levels was only slightly more pronounced in the elderly compared to the young (16.6% hippocampal volume difference in the elderly, versus 12.5% volume difference in the young), a difference that seems less than one should expect to result from a lifetime of neurotoxicit”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volumes, and cortisol toxicity
hedged- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Another difference between the samples involved gender: in the younger sample, only men were studied, while in the elderly, men and women were investigated, with women comprising the majority of the subjects.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Limitations and future directions
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Again, this analysis was hampered by the relatively low degrees of freedom, and thus these associations should be investigated in a larger study.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Self-esteem, locus of control, and hippocampal volume
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Relatedly, it should be noted that we did not collect IQ data to complement our personality assessment.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Limitations and future directions
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
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.”
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?
In the citing paper
“poor self esteem and low internal locus of control have been related to 12–13% smaller volume of the hippocampus”
From Central effects of stress hormones in health and disease: understanding the protective and damaging effects of stress and stress mediators (2008) · cites this paper as Pruessner et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“as well as higher cortisol levels during a mental arithmetic stressor (Pruessner et al., 1999; Pruessner et al., 2005).”
From Central effects of stress hormones in health and disease: understanding the protective and damaging effects of stress and stress mediators (2008) · cites this paper as Pruessner et al., 2005
In the citing paper
“Furthermore, poor self-esteem and low internal locus of control have been related to a 12% to 13% smaller volume of the hippocampus, as well as higher Cortisol levels during a mental arithmetic stressor.124,125”
From Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators: central role of the brain (2006) · cites this paper as [124]
In the citing paper
“Furthermore, poor self-esteem and low internal locus of control have been related to a 12% to 13% smaller volume of the hippocampus, as well as higher Cortisol levels during a mental arithmetic stressor.124,125”
From Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators: central role of the brain (2006) · cites this paper as [124]
Statistics that don’t add up
Each reported p-value recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
“(z = 2.62, P = 0.001”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
Reported p = .001 · recomputed p = .009
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”
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.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Cortisol regulation in response to an acute stressor in young subjects
“the measure for signs of cognitive impairment (ADAS-cog; r = À0.54), for the total sample.”
§ Self-esteem, locus of control, hippocampal volume, and cortisol regulation in young and old adulthood > Limitations and future directions
“ADAS r = 0.54, P < 0.008 r = 0.41, P > 0.20 r = 0.52, P = 0.07”
Citations
Cites
Society and the Adolescent Self-Image
Rosenberg, M. (1965) · doi:10.1515/9781400876136 · Cited by 30,126
Co-Planar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain
Talairach, J., & Tournoux, P. (1988) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 11,798
Dickerson, S. S., & Kemeny, M. E. (2004) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.355 · Cited by 5,881
Stress, adaptation, and disease. Allostasis and allostatic load
McEWEN, B. S. (1998) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb09546.x · Cited by 5,092
Talairach, J., Tournoux, P., & Rayport, M. (1988) · Thieme eBooks · Cited by 5,058
A nonparametric method for automatic correction of intensity nonuniformity in MRI data
Sled, J. G., Zijdenbos, A. P., & Evans, A. C. (1998) · IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging · doi:10.1109/42.668698 · Cited by 4,731
Baumeister, R. F., Campbell, J. D., Krueger, J. I., & Vohs, K. D. (2003) · Psychological Science in the Public Interest · doi:10.1111/1529-1006.01431 · Cited by 3,893
The Psychology of Self-Affirmation: Sustaining the Integrity of the Self
Steele, C. M. (1988) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60229-4 · Cited by 3,697
Pruessner, J. C., Kirschbaum, C., Meinlschmid, G., & Hellhammer, D. H. (2003) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/s0306-4530(02)00108-7 · Cited by 3,638
Self-citationAutomatic 3D intersubject registration of MR volumetric data in standardized Talairach space
Collins, D. L., Neelin, P., Peters, T. M., & Evans, A. C. (1994) · Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography · doi:10.1097/00004728-199403000-00005 · Cited by 3,431 · cited 3×
“, 1998), linear stereotaxic transformation (Collins et al., 1994) into coordinates based on the Talairach atlas (Talairach and Tournoux, 1988), and resampling onto a 1 mm voxel grid before image segmentation using a linear interpolation kernel.”
Method
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Griffore, 1990, Gender differences in correlates of college students' self-esteem, Coll. Stud. J., 24, 287
- Markus, 1991, The role of the self-concept in aging, Annu. Rev. Gerontol. Geriatr., 11, 111
- Sobel, 1982, Asymptotic intervals for indirect effects in structural equations models, vol. 1982, 290
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition
Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., & Heim, C. (2009) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2639 · Cited by 6,256
Self-citationPhysiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: central role of the brain
McEwen, B. S. (2007) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00041.2006 · Cited by 5,429
Does low self-esteem predict depression and anxiety? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.
Sowislo, J. F., & Orth, U. (2013) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0028931 · Cited by 2,123
McEwen, B. S. (2008) · European Journal of Pharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.ejphar.2007.11.071 · Cited by 1,864
McEwen, B. S., & Gianaros, P. J. (2010) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05331.x · Cited by 1,715
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
- Semantic Scholar
- 88af34dd84e0c7d2573d67b3b60611c4bc0037ca
- 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
- green
- nbn-resolving.de
- 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
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-09, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-09 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
