Pilot Projects

Neuroendocrine biomarkers, social relations, and the costs of cumulative stress in Taiwan

Principal Investigator: Omer Gersten

The grant from CEDA funded completion of a paper which grew out of a recently completed dissertation. This involved changes and additional analysis in response to first and second round reviewer comments. The paper has now been accepted and is forthcoming in Social Science & Medicine with the title, "Neuroendocrine biomarkers, social relations, and the costs of cumulative stress in Taiwan."

The paper itself explored whether there was a link between a number of life stressors and basal levels of neuroendocrine biomarkers. Life stressors in the study included low education, living alone, being widowed, and report of psychological stress, and basal levels were measured for cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and DHEAS. The study was nationally representative of the elderly and near elderly in Taiwan and was conducted in 2000.