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Cited by 44Behavioral Health and InterventionsStress Responses and CortisolCircadian rhythm and melatonin

Effects of circadian cortisol on the development of a health habit

Fournier, Marion, d'Arripe-Longueville, Fabienne, Rovere, Carole, Easthope, Christopher S., Schwabe, Lars, El Methni, Jonathan, Radel, Rémi·2017·Health Psychology
DOI 10.1037/hea0000510
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Given the impact of individuals' habits on health, it is important to study how behaviors can become habitual. Cortisol has been well documented to have a role in habit formation. This study aimed to elucidate the influence of the circadian rhythm of cortisol on habit formation in a real-life setting. METHOD: Forty-eight students were followed for 90 days during which they attempted to adopt a health behavior (psoas iliac stretch). They were randomly assigned to perform the stretch either upon waking in the morning, when cortisol concentrations are high, or before evening bedtime, when cortisol levels approach the nadir. A smartphone application was used to assess the Self-Report Behavioural Automaticity Index every day and to provide reminders for salivary measurements every 30 days. The speed of the health habit formation process was calculated by modeling the learning curves. RESULTS: Extrapolation of the curves indicated that the morning group achieved automaticity at an earlier time point (105.95 days) than did the evening group (154.01 days). In addition, the cortisol level during the performance of the health behavior was identified as a significant mediator of the time point when the health behavior became habitual. CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest that the time course of the development of healthy habits depends on the time of the day and that the effect is mediated through diurnal variation in cortisol levels. Future studies are now needed to determine to what extent cortisol rhythmicity can help individuals to adopt new health behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record

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Crossref · 10.1037/hea0000510

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  • Longitudinal studies, in which the intentional acquisition of habits is tracked within-person after each habit repetition, are scarce.

    “Longitudinal studies, in which the intentional acquisition of habits is tracked within-person after each habit repetition, are scarce.”

    From Context Stability in Habit Building Increases Automaticity and Goal Attainment (2022) · cites this paper as Fournier et al., 2017

  • In none of the five relevant published papers has context stability been tested for a possible influence on the habit building process.

    “We identified only five relevant published papers to date (Lally et al., 2010; Fournier et al., 2017; Stojanovic et al., 2020, 2021; Van der Weiden et al., 2020) and in none of them context stability has been tested for a possible influence on the habit building process.”

    From Context Stability in Habit Building Increases Automaticity and Goal Attainment (2022) · cites this paper as Fournier et al., 2017

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Authors
Fournier, M., d'Arripe-Longueville, F., Rovere, C., Easthope, C. S., Schwabe, L., El Methni, J., & Radel, R.
Affiliations
  • Université de Toulon (FR)
  • Universität Hamburg (DE)
ORCID
Venue
Health Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2017-11
Volume
36
Issue
11
Pages
1059-1064
ISSN
  • 0278-6133 (ISSN-L)
  • 1930-7810
DOI
10.1037/hea0000510
OpenAlex
W2713558318
Cited by
44
References
22
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2
FWCI
3.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Health Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Circadian rhythm and melatonin
Keywords
habit formation, health behavior adoption, diurnal variation, learning curve, time of day, salivary cortisol
MeSH terms
Adult, Circadian Rhythm, Exercise Therapy, Female, Habits, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Memory, Saliva, Health Behavior, Muscle Stretching Exercises, Young Adult

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