The Effect of Play and Socioeconomic Status on Hair Cortisol in Children
Hill, Allie
Hill, Allie
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2024-12-18
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Abstract
Hair cortisol concentration can serve as a biomarker of an individual's chronic stress. High levels of cortisol in children have been found to reflect an increased risk of developing cardiometabolic disease and depressive symptoms later in life. The purpose of my study is to evaluate the effect of unstructured play and socioeconomic status on hair cortisol in 3rd through 5th-grade children. The LiiNK project is working to improve the physical and mental health of children by implementing 60 minutes of outdoor unstructured play, or recess, in schools daily. The study plan was to work with the LiiNK project to evaluate if a significant difference exists in the hair cortisol of children who receive increased unstructured play at a LiiNK intervention school versus children who receive 30 minutes of unstructured play at a control school. Additionally, my study aimed to evaluate if there is a significant difference in hair cortisol levels according to socioeconomic status in children, with a student's free or reduced lunch status serving as an indicator of socioeconomic status.
Hair samples from 100 students were included in this study and an EIA kit was used to measure the cortisol concentrations in the extracted hair samples. Due to a small sample size of participants from the intervention school, comparisons of unstructured play were unable to be determined. Analysis of socioeconomic status at the control school partially supported my hypothesis, with the hair cortisol of students on free or reduced lunch being significantly lower than students not on free or reduced lunch in the fall semester, but not the spring semester. There was a significant increase in the hair cortisol of students receiving free or reduced lunch from the fall to the spring semester.