Table 2.
Results of hierarchical linear models (HLM) of psychoneuroendocrine stress responses in participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to healthy controls (HCs)
| Psychological stress | Cortisol | Testosterone | Oxytocin | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | SE | β | p | b | SE | β | p | b | SE | β | p | b | SE | β | p | |
| Overall (N = 175) | ||||||||||||||||
| Age | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.05 | .37 | 0.14 | 0.08 | 0.14 | .07 | 0.11 | 0.07 | 0.11 | .11 | −0.01 | 0.09 | −0.01 | .89 |
| Pubertal status | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.05 | .41 | 0.10 | 0.09 | 0.10 | .27 | 0.10 | 0.08 | 0.10 | .21 | −0.01 | 0.11 | −0.01 | .94 |
| Sex a | 0.17 | 0.12 | 0.08 | .14 | 0.05 | 0.17 | 0.02 | .76 | −1.15 | 0.15 | −0.56 | <.01 | 0.30 | 0.20 | 0.14 | .14 |
| Group | 0.75 | 0.09 | 0.37 | <.01 | −0.04 | 0.14 | −0.02 | .79 | 0.44 | 0.13 | 0.22 | <.01 | −0.07 | 0.17 | −0.03 | .68 |
| Time (poly 1) | −8.28 | 1.01 | −0.22 | <.01 | 0.48 | 0.86 | 0.02 | .58 | 1.12 | 0.49 | 0.05 | .02 | 3.20 | 1.33 | 0.14 | .02 |
| Time (poly 2) | 1.97 | 1.01 | 0.05 | .05 | −7.95 | 0.86 | −0.27 | <.01 | −3.13 | 0.49 | −0.14 | <.01 | −5.88 | 1.33 | −0.26 | <.01 |
| Group × Time (poly 1) | −7.62 | 1.32 | −0.16 | <.01 | −1.68 | 1.13 | −0.04 | .14 | −0.24 | 0.65 | −0.01 | .71 | −0.87 | 1.60 | −0.03 | .59 |
| Group × Time (poly 2) | −1.15 | 1.32 | −0.02 | .38 | 3.84 | 1.13 | 0.10 | <.01 | 1.75 | 0.64 | 0.06 | .01 | 5.01 | 1.60 | 0.18 | <.01 |
| Sex b | <0.01 | 0.16 | <0.01 | .98 | 0.07 | 0.23 | 0.03 | .76 | −1.01 | 0.21 | −0.49 | <.01 | 0.65 | 0.30 | 0.31 | .03 |
| Group × Sex | 0.28 | 0.19 | 0.13 | .14 | −0.03 | 0.27 | −0.02 | .90 | −0.23 | 0.24 | −0.11 | .34 | −0.5 | 0.32 | −0.25 | .12 |
| Sex × Time (poly 1) | −2.67 | 2.08 | −0.06 | .20 | 1.57 | 1.78 | 0.04 | .38 | −1.39 | 1.02 | −0.05 | .17 | −3.63 | 2.75 | −0.13 | .19 |
| Sex × Time (poly 2) | 2.45 | 2.08 | 0.05 | .24 | −0.99 | 1.78 | −0.03 | .58 | −1.53 | 1.01 | −0.05 | .13 | 5.62 | 2.75 | 0.19 | .04 |
| Group × Sex × Time (poly 1) | −0.7 | 2.73 | −0.01 | .80 | −2.16 | 2.33 | −0.04 | .35 | 1.89 | 1.33 | 0.05 | .16 | 4.57 | 3.31 | 0.13 | .17 |
| Group × Sex × Time (poly 2) | −3.73 | 2.72 | −0.06 | .17 | 3.91 | 2.33 | 0.08 | .09 | 1.73 | 1.33 | 0.05 | .19 | −5.22 | 3.31 | −0.15 | .11 |
| Females (n = 109) | ||||||||||||||||
| Age | 0.10 | 0.07 | 0.09 | .15 | 0.14 | 0.09 | 0.16 | .10 | 0.04 | 0.08 | 0.05 | .66 | −0.05 | 0.10 | −0.06 | .60 |
| Pubertal status | −0.04 | 0.08 | −0.04 | .59 | 0.07 | 0.11 | 0.06 | .52 | −0.02 | 0.10 | −0.02 | .84 | 0.08 | 0.13 | 0.07 | .51 |
| Group | 0.87 | 0.12 | 0.41 | <.01 | 0.04 | 0.17 | 0.02 | .80 | 0.40 | 0.16 | 0.25 | .01 | −0.24 | 0.21 | −0.12 | .24 |
| Time (poly 1) | −9.27 | 1.36 | −0.23 | <.01 | 1.08 | 1.08 | 0.04 | .32 | 0.60 | 0.67 | 0.03 | .36 | 1.90 | 1.7 | 0.09 | .26 |
| Time (poly 2) | 2.89 | 1.36 | 0.07 | .03 | −8.32 | 1.08 | −0.30 | <.01 | −3.70 | 0.66 | −0.20 | <.01 | −3.87 | 1.7 | −0.17 | .02 |
| Group × Time (poly 1) | −7.89 | 1.78 | −0.15 | <.01 | −2.50 | 1.41 | −0.07 | .08 | 0.47 | 0.87 | 0.02 | .59 | 0.78 | 2.06 | 0.03 | .70 |
| Group × Time (poly 2) | −2.54 | 1.77 | −0.05 | .15 | 5.30 | 1.41 | 0.15 | <.01 | 2.40 | 0.86 | 0.10 | .01 | 3.15 | 2.06 | 0.12 | .13 |
| Males (n = 66) | ||||||||||||||||
| Age | −0.05 | 0.09 | −0.05 | .58 | 0.13 | 0.16 | 0.11 | .45 | 0.27 | 0.13 | 0.27 | .04 | 0.09 | 0.20 | 0.08 | .64 |
| Pubertal status | 0.24 | 0.10 | 0.24 | .02 | 0.19 | 0.18 | 0.15 | .28 | 0.27 | 0.14 | 0.25 | .05 | −0.19 | 0.22 | −0.16 | .39 |
| Group | 0.53 | 0.14 | 0.30 | <.01 | −0.16 | 0.25 | −0.07 | .54 | 0.41 | 0.20 | 0.21 | .04 | 0.28 | 0.29 | 0.13 | .34 |
| Time (poly 1) | −6.61 | 1.45 | −0.20 | <.01 | −0.50 | 1.44 | −0.02 | .73 | 1.98 | 0.71 | 0.09 | .01 | 5.53 | 2.08 | 0.24 | .01 |
| Time (poly 2) | 0.44 | 1.45 | 0.01 | .76 | −7.33 | 1.44 | −0.23 | <.01 | −2.17 | 0.71 | −0.10 | <.01 | −9.49 | 2.08 | −0.41 | <.01 |
| Group × Time (poly 1) | −7.20 | 1.90 | −0.17 | <.01 | −0.33 | 1.88 | −0.01 | .86 | −1.41 | 0.93 | −0.05 | .13 | −3.79 | 2.48 | −0.14 | .13 |
| Group × Time (poly 2) | 1.20 | 1.89 | 0.03 | .53 | 1.40 | 1.88 | 0.03 | .46 | 0.67 | 0.93 | 0.02 | .47 | 8.37 | 2.48 | 0.30 | <.01 |
Time (poly 1) represents a linear (polynomial 1), and time (poly 2) a quadratic (polynomial 2) time effect. Reference category for sex = female, and for group = MDD. SE = Standard error of b. Significant effects are displayed in bold: *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.
a
Sex included as a fixed effect in HLM.
b
Sex included as an additional independent variable to test for three‐way interaction effects of group, sex, and time in HLM (see also Methods).