Associations between hair cortisol, cortisone and DHEA levels and Covid19 related stressors among family members during the first outbreak of COVID19 within the FinnBrain Cohort Study in Finland

BACKGROUND: Some studies have associated COVID-19-pandemic-related stress with elevated hair cortisol concentrations among health care workers and mother-child pairs. We investigated, whether parent-reported pandemic-related stressors predicted hair cortisol, cortisone and DHEA levels among parents and 5-to-8-year-old children in general population. METHODS: Hair samples utilized to define cortisol, cortisone and DHEA concentrations were collected at homes in June 2020 covering the cumulative hormone output during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring in Finland. Parents reported pandemic-related stressors (e.g. lifestyle restrictions, economic difficulties, health events related to self and others) by responding to an online questionnaire in May-June 2020. This study consists of 150 mothers, 25 fathers and 165 children from FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study who had complete data available. RESULTS: According to the preliminary results, hair cortisone concentrations associated with health events related to self among fathers (β = 0.29, p =.057) when adjusted for depressive symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) (β = 0.089, p =.007), age and education. In parents, we found no other associations between hair hormone concentrations (HHC) and pandemic-related stressors. Analyses in children will be presented in the conference. DISCUSSION: We found no strong evidence for the associations between pandemic-related stressors and HHC among parents. Finding concerning cortisone could point the possible role of cortisol metabolism in the biological response to pandemic, suggesting that not just cortisol should be studied in related studies.