eam intercollegiate athletic competition is associated with an increase in salivary cortisol (C) and testosterone (T) in men and women. The present study was designed to determine the hormonal effects of warm-up and racing in cross country runners – a sport that has both individual and team components. Members of the Emory University men’s and women’s varsity cross country teams gave saliva samples before warm-up, after warm-up, and immediately after the finish of each of two intercollegiate invitational meets held one year apart in the same setting (2010, N = 10 men, 15 women; 2011, N = 15 men, 20 women ). For some racers warm-up was associated with a significant decrease in C (2010 men p = .04; 2011 women, p = .004). With the exception of the 2011 men, warm-up was associated with an increase in T (2010 men, P = .012; 2010 women, p = .006; 2011 women, p = .056). For men and women in both years, racing was related to a substantial increase in both C and T (C: 2010 and 2011 men, p = .001; 2010 women, p = .011; 2011 women, p < .001) (T: 2010 and 2011 men and women, p < .001). Finish time was not related to levels of C or T. Increased hormone levels may result from the psychological effects of competition, physical exertion, or some combination of the two. Competition-related increases in C and T presumably benefit performance in cross country racing and other sports, but the exact character of these benefits remains to be determined.

Purpose In variety of settings cortisol and testosterone are positively “coupled.” That is, within-person fluctuations of cortisol and testosterone levels occur in parallel—increases and decreases in one hormone are associated with corresponding increases and decreases in the other. The present report explored hormone coupling in women athletes in two studies selected because they included measurements of salivary levels of cortisol, testosterone, and estradiol—a hormone that has been only infrequently studied in the context of competitive athletics. Methods Consenting members of Emory University’s varsity volleyball and soccer teams gave saliva samples on multiple occasions in the run-up to and over the course of two different intercollegiate contests. Results Volleyball and soccer players showed remarkably similar hormone-specific patterns of increase in relationship to the different stages of competition—before warm-up, after warm-up, and after competition. For both the volleyball and soccer team, Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) analyses showed estradiol as being significantly coupled with testosterone which was also coupled with cortisol. Conclusions This is, apparently, the first report of significant within-person coupling between estradiol and testosterone in the context of competitive athletic stress. These two hormones may be coupled in a wide variety of circumstances not limited to ones involving sport competition, and results reported here should encourage exploration of the extent to which coordinated fluctuations in estradiol, testosterone, and cortisol levels are present in other, more neutral settings and the ways in which the coordination of these fluctuating hormone levels may benefit human performance.

Performance anxiety is common in a wide range of settings. This study was designed to explore the hormonal correlates of a music performance recital – a setting commonly associated with extreme and often unsettling anxiety linked to the anticipation of performing. Thirty-nine college undergraduate participants (24 women and 15 men) were recruited from students enrolled in an undergraduate music performance course. Each gave a saliva sample on a neutral non-performance day and gave additional samples immediately before and 10 and 30-min after each of two solo music recitals. Samples were subsequently assayed for cortisol, alpha-amylase, and testosterone. For women, pre-performance salivary cortisol levels were significantly elevated relative to neutral-day baseline (presumably in anticipation of performing) and continued to rise in association with the performance phase of the recital. Pre-performance alpha-amylase was significantly higher than neutral-day baseline. Testosterone increased in connection with the performance phase of the recital, but not during the anticipation phase. For all three products, patterns for men were generally similar to those for women, though not as statistically robust, perhaps owing to the smaller sample size. Increases in cortisol and alpha-amylase, from neutral-day to immediately pre-performance on recital day, suggest an effect related to the psychological anticipation of the recital. Cortisol and testosterone (but not alpha-amylase) increased in association with the performance phase of the recital. Phase-related changes in these products appears to reflect a coordinated response to the stress of a music recital and perhaps, more generally, to social-evaluative threat.