122 citations
,
October 2010 in “Clinica Chimica Acta” Washing hair with water or shampoo lowers cortisol levels in hair.
22 citations
,
January 2010 in “Clinical Medicine Insights Endocrinology and Diabetes” Forearm hair has more cortisol than lower leg hair.
90 citations
,
July 2014 in “Conservation Physiology” Hair cortisol levels in brown bears can be affected by both long-term and short-term stress.
50 citations
,
November 2020 in “Physiology & behavior” People with depression often have higher hair cortisol levels, while those with PTSD tend to have lower levels, but more research is needed to understand this fully.
33 citations
,
January 2017 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Hair dyeing and washing frequency do not affect hair cortisol levels.
24 citations
,
October 2018 in “Addiction Biology” Alcohol dependence affects stress hormone levels more than childhood maltreatment.
22 citations
,
August 2016 in “European Eating Disorders Review” Adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa have lower hair cortisol levels than healthy and psychiatric peers.
21 citations
,
January 2016 in “NeuroImmunoModulation” Hair cortisol levels can indicate stress over the past three months.
19 citations
,
June 2020 in “General and comparative endocrinology” Hair cortisol is a reliable stress indicator in cattle but may not be valid for pigs.
1 citations
,
July 2023 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Hair cortisol is a reliable marker of long-term cortisol levels and is linked to daytime saliva cortisol but not morning levels.
February 2026 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Hair cortisol concentration partly reflects HPA axis regulation but doesn't capture all its complexities.
January 2026 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Lye relaxers don't significantly change hair cortisol levels.
January 2026 in “Neuroscience Applied” Hair cortisol levels decrease as children age, stabilizing around age 4.
November 2025 in “Anxiety Stress & Coping” Higher anxiety symptoms and social behavior affect stress levels in hair.
October 2025 in “Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation” Black hair in cats has higher cortisol levels than white hair.
June 2020 in “Authorea (Authorea)” First-time mothers had higher stress hormone levels in late pregnancy than mothers who had given birth before.
Distal hair cortisol is not a reliable measure of early pregnancy cortisol levels.
High-stress mothers had lower hair cortisol than low-stress mothers, and daughters' cortisol was linked to their stress response.
Hair hormone levels can indicate stress after a medically indicated abortion.
30 citations
,
July 2016 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” 24 citations
,
January 2019 in “Hormone Research in Paediatrics” Hair cortisol levels in children are influenced by puberty, age, gender, and body mass index.
21 citations
,
January 2017 in “MethodsX” Methanol is better than isopropanol for washing grizzly bear hair to measure cortisol.
11 citations
,
April 2020 in “Animals” Moving horses to new places can increase their stress levels, as shown by higher stress hormone in their hair.
4 citations
,
June 2025 in “JMIR Formative Research” Hair cortisol concentration may reflect some physiological stress but doesn't strongly correlate with perceived stress.
1 citations
,
September 2016 in “Brain Behavior and Immunity” Hair cortisol levels can indicate stress and are affected by washing frequency, not cosmetic treatments.
February 2026 in “TURKISH JOURNAL OF VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES” Hair cortisol is better than blood cortisol for measuring long-term stress in pregnant goats.
September 2021 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Nurses had higher stress levels during intense phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.
69 citations
,
May 2016 in “General and Comparative Endocrinology” External factors can significantly affect hair cortisol levels, so it's not always a reliable stress marker.
3 citations
,
November 2021 in “Stress” Girls had higher stress hormone levels during school due to social and emotional issues, while boys had higher overall hormone levels with slight changes when school started.
157 citations
,
June 2015 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Hair cortisol and cortisone levels increase with age, are higher in diabetics, vary by gender, decrease with frequent hair washing, and are lower in winter.