LAUSR

Method: The study included data from 30 adults (67% female) recruited from a longitudinal study on the natural history of insomnia. This sub-sample participated in two lab-based studies that took place approximately 3-months apart. Subjects were chosen to participate in the lab study based on their clinical status at Time 1 (Good Sleep or Acute Insomnia) and were classified based on status at Time 2 (Good Sleep, Recovered or Chronic Insomnia). Hair samples were collected and assayed for cortisol at Time 2. Hair cortisol is a newer method for assessing circulating cortisol exposure over longer time intervals. In the present study, 3cm of hair distal from the scalp was used to assess chronic stress during the past 3 months (1 cm per month). To evaluate whether there were any group differences in hair cortisol over time, a 2 x 3 (group x time) repeated-measures ANOVA was used.