Association of Internet Addiction Symptoms with Hair Cortisol and Hair Testosterone Concentrations | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Association of Internet Addiction Symptoms with Hair Cortisol and Hair Testosterone Concentrations Hideki Tsumura, Shuhei Izawa This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8847932/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Internet addiction (IA) has been consistently shown to be closely associated with stress; however, studies on physiological stress in IA have yielded mixed findings regarding the relationship between IA and cortisol. In addition, the role of testosterone—another hormone potentially relevant to addiction—has been scarcely examined in IA. The present study investigated associations between IA symptom severity and long-term basal secretion of cortisol and testosterone using hair-based hormone measures. A total of 155 Japanese undergraduate and graduate students (94 females, mean age = 21.1 years, standard deviation = 4.1 years) participated in the study. IA symptom severity was assessed using the Japanese version of the Internet Addiction Test (Osada, 2013; Young, 1998). Hair cortisol and hair testosterone concentrations, reflecting cumulative hormone secretion over the preceding three months, were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. A multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that hair cortisol concentrations were negatively associated with IAT scores, whereas hair testosterone concentrations were not. These results suggest that IA symptom severity may be linked to altered long-term activity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. By jointly examining cortisol and testosterone, the present findings extend previous research that has largely focused on single hormonal systems. Psychology Psychiatry Internet addiction symptoms cortisol testosterone hair hormones hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis Figures Figure 1 Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files Table1.docx Table22.docx Table32.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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