Glucocorticoids and “Stress” Are Not Synonymous

Reference to glucocorticoids as “stress hormones” has been growing in prevalence in the literature, including in comparative and environmental endocrinology. Although glucocorticoids are elevated in response to a variety of stressors in vertebrate animals, the primary functions of glucocorticoids are not responding to stressors and they are only one component of complex suite of physiological and behavioral responses to stressors. Thus, the use of the short-hand phrase “stress hormone” can be misleading. Further, simply measuring glucocorticoids is not equivalent to measuring a stress response, nor is manipulating glucocorticoids equivalent to exposing an animal to a stressor. In this commentary we highlight the problems with using functional names for hormones, and of treating cortisol or corticosterone as synonymous with stress. We provide recommendations to add clarity to the presentation of research on this topic, and to avoid conflation of glucocorticoids with stressors and the stress response in the design of experiments.