Imagine HEALTH: Changes in diurnal salivary cortisol patterns following a 12-week guided imagery RCT lifestyle intervention in predominantly Latino adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Alterations in diurnal salivary cortisol patterns have been linked to adverse metabolic health outcomes. We have previously shown that stress-reduction guided imagery (GI) can reduce salivary cortisol levels acutely. We now ask whether addition of GI into a 12-week lifestyle intervention designed to improve eating and physical activity behaviors can alter diurnal salivary cortisol patterns and perceived stress. METHODS: 232 adolescent participants (ages 14-17 years) were cluster randomized by school into one of four intervention arms: non-intervention Control (C; n = 51), Lifestyle (LS; n=61), Stress-Reduction GI (SRGI; n = 55), and Lifestyle Behavior GI (LBGI; n = 65). LS group received one nutrition and one physical activity class per week after-school for 12 weeks. SRGI and LBGI groups received same LS classes plus an additional weekly GI session. Salivary cortisol was assessed pre- and post-intervention on 3 days, 3 times daily, at awakening, 30-minutes post-awakening, and in the evening to determine Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) and Diurnal Cortisol Slope (DCS). Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was administered pre- and post-intervention. Mixed effects modeling was used for intent-to-treat analysis and sensitivity analysis was used for those participants adherent to intervention protocol. RESULTS: Analysis of 208 subjects with complete data showed a small between-group increase in CAR in LBGI vs C (p = 0.045, d=0.24), with no significant group differences among other intervention arms. There were no between group differences in change in DCS or change in PSS after 12-weeks. Amongst adherent participants, LBGI showed a small-moderate increase in CAR (p = 0.03, d=0.37), and moderate-large reduction in PSS (p = 0.02, d=-0.66) compared to C. There were no other between group differences in CAR, DCS, or PSS. CONCLUSION: LBGI led to an increase in CAR, and in adherent subjects, a decrease in PSS, suggesting GI may be a mind-body intervention that can affect both objective and subjective measures of the stress response. Whether changes in cortisol patterns in this population affect measures of mental or physical health remains to be determined.

The Acute Relationship between Affective States and Stress Biomarkers in Ethnic Minority Youths.

Background: Whether affective states acutely predict the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activities and whether energy balance-related behaviors moderate the affect-HPA axis relationship in obese youths are not well-understood. Methods: 87 mostly obese (94.3% obese) minority adolescents (mean: 16.3 ± 1.2 years old; 56.8% Latino and 43.2% African American) participated in a randomized crossover trial in an observation laboratory, where they received either high-sugar/low-fiber (HSLF) or low-sugar/high-fiber (LSHF) meals first and then crossed over in the next visit 2-4 weeks later. During each visit, they rated five affective states and provided a saliva sample every 30 min for the first 5 h and wore a waist-worn accelerometer. The association between the affect ratings and cortisol levels in the subsequent 30 min and the moderation effect of energy balance-related behavior were examined using multilevel models. Results: Within-person negative affect (ß = 0.02, p = 0.0343) and feeling of panic (ß = 0.007, p = 0.004) were acutely related to the subsequent cortisol level only during the HSLF condition. The time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity did not moderate the acute relationship between affect and the subsequent cortisol level. Conclusions: Negative affect could be acutely related to heightened HPA axis activities in youths, but only when they were exposed to meals with high sugar and low fiber content. These results suggest that the meals' sugar and fiber content may modulate HPA axis reactivity to negative affect in youths.

Protocol for the Imagine HEALTH Study: Guided imagery lifestyle intervention to improve obesity-related behaviors and salivary cortisol patterns in predominantly Latino adolescents.

Innovative lifestyle interventions are needed to reduce type 2 diabetes risk in adolescents. This report describes the protocol of the Imagine HEALTH cluster randomized control trial, that tests an intervention based in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and uses lifestyle education combined with the mind-body, complementary health modality of guided imagery (GI), to address obesity prevention and treatment in predominantly Latino adolescents. The primary aim is to determine the unique effects of each of the three major components of the 12-week lifestyle intervention (lifestyle education, stress reduction guided imagery, and lifestyle behavior guided imagery) compared to control on primary outcomes of physical activity (accelerometry), dietary intake (3-day recall), and stress biomarker levels (salivary cortisol). Secondary aims assess changes compared to controls in psychosocial outcomes (stress, well-being, depression), diabetes-related metabolic outcomes (adiposity, insulin resistance), maintenance of outcome changes for one year post-intervention, and SDT-based mediation of intervention effects. The development and rationale for each of the intervention components, study design, and outcome measurement processes are described. Adolescent participants recruited from four urban schools are cluster randomized by school into one of four arms of the 12-week (3-month) intervention, followed by 6 months of maintenance and 6 months of no contact. Outcome measures are assessed at the end of each period (3-, 9-, and 15-months). Results to date show successful recruitment of 97% of the target study population. Future results will demonstrate the effects of this integrative intervention on primary and secondary outcome measures in adolescents at risk for lifestyle-related metabolic disease.

Stress and abdominal fat: preliminary evidence of moderation by the cortisol awakening response in Hispanic peripubertal girls.

Stress and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) have been independently linked to increases in abdominal fat depots. This cross-sectional study examined the CAR as a moderator of the association between stress, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT) in a sample (N = 23) of female peripubertal Hispanic girls aged from 8 to 11. The study included: (i) monitored salivary cortisol collection, (ii) VAT and SAT obtained by multislice magnetic resonance imaging, and (iii) a stressful life events checklist with four domain-specific subscales: peer, family, personal, and school. Regression analysis indicated an interaction of school-related life events and CAR on VAT and SAT, with greater numbers of school-related events being related to greater VAT and SAT for girls with high CAR, but no association with VAT or SAT for girls with low CAR. Similar to job stress in adults, school-related stress in children may contribute to central adiposity, especially for girls with high CAR.

Acute effects of stress-reduction Interactive Guided Imagery(SM) on salivary cortisol in overweight Latino adolescents.

OBJECTIVES: Chronic stress with relative hypercortisolism has been associated with metabolic disease risk. Stress-reduction interventions may therefore hold promise for reducing such chronic disease risk in obese youth. The purpose of this study was to conduct a 4-week pilot intervention to determine whether stress-reduction Interactive Guided Imagery(SM) (IGI) could serve as an acceptable and effective stress-reduction modality in overweight Latino adolescents. DESIGN: Subjects (6 male/6 female, ages 14-17, body-mass index >95th percentile) were randomly assigned to the experimental guided imagery group (IGI, n = 6), or the nonintervention control group (C, n = 6). IGI subjects received four weekly 45-minute stress-reduction IGI sessions. Salivary cortisol was assessed immediately before and after each session. Acceptability was assessed by compliance and qualitative interviews. RESULTS: Subjects attended all sessions and expressed acceptance of the IGI intervention. There were significant within-group reductions in salivary cortisol in the IGI group in three of the four sessions, and no reductions in cortisol in the control group. For all four sessions combined, there was a significant between-group effect for the change in salivary cortisol in IGI versus C (p = 0.007). Effect sizes of cortisol change in IGI group were moderate to very high in the four sessions. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that IGI may be feasible and effective in acutely reducing salivary cortisol levels in overweight Latino adolescents. Future studies will need to determine whether stress-reduction IGI can result in longer-term reductions in chronic stress and measures of HPA activity.