Table 1.

Timing of Cortisol Patterns Commonly Measured in Community Settings

Cortisol Measure	Description of Timing
Cortisol awakening response	30–45 min post awakening
Diurnal cortisol slope	Degree of change in levels from morning to evening
Area under the daytime cortisol curve	Levels measured at multiple points across the day
Waking cortisol	Immediately upon awakening
Cortisol at specific time points across the waking day	Specific clock times (i.e., 10 am and 10 pm) or time points (i.e., afternoon)
Bedtime cortisol	Immediately prior to bedtime
Cortisol reactivity to momentary stressors	Elevation in typical diurnal level for that time for day for that person
Cortisol reactivity to daily stressors	Changes in cortisol levels from one day to the next

Note. Adapted from Psychoneuroimmunology (2009), 34, 1423–1436, Adam & Kumari, Assessing salivary cortisol in large-scale, epidemiological research, with permission from Elsevier.