Sex-specific association between the cortisol awakening response and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in healthy individuals

Table 4 Results of the multiple linear regression analyses exploring the relationship between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and HPA axis measures

	CAR		Diurnal cortisol slope		DSTR
	Beta	p	Beta	p	Beta	p
Female gender	0.115	0.306	− 0.085	0.302	0.070	0.388
Age	− 0.316	0.001	− 0.040	0.698	0.146	0.149
BMI	0.029	0.756	− 0.074	0.445	− 0.090	0.346
Smoking (cig/day)	0.054	0.489	0.028	0.726	− 0.020	0.801
OCI-R total score	0.225	0.062	0.060	0.507	− 0.123	0.167
HRSRS stress score	0.023	0.777	0.082	0.348	− 0.027	0.752
STAI-Trait Anxiety	0.037	0.742	0.134	0.251	0.264	0.022
STAI-State Anxiety	− 0.071	0.469	− 0.147	0.151	− 0.120	0.234
Female gender × OCI-R interaction	− 0.322	0.023

Abbreviations: CAR cortisol awakening response, DSTR dexamethasone suppression test ratio, BMI body mass index, OCI-R Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory—Revised, HRSRS Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Scale, STAI State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

ISSN: 2042-6410