Psychosomatic Medicine 32:369-378 (1970)
© 1970 American Psychosomatic Society

Multiple Determinants of 17-Hydroxycorticosteroid Excretion in Recruits During Basic Training

¹ Department of Neuroendocrinology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC; 45 Trenton Place, San Mateo, Calif 94402
² Department of Neuroendocrinology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC

Address for reprint requests: Dr. R. Poe, 45 Trenton Place, San Mateo, Calif 94402

To define the effect of psychologic and other variables on 17-hydroxycorticosteroid excretion, a mean 17-OHCS level was obtained for each of 46 basic trainees, plus a rating of how effectively each was coping with psychologic stress, based on interviews and observations. Psychologic ratings and weight both correlated with 17-OHCS and together predicted 17-OHCS more accurately than did either alone. Several MMPI scales correlated with 17-OHCS; an analysis of differentiating items suggested that an effective defense, judged from 17-OHCS, is not defined by type of defense, nor as solely one's defensive ability, but as an interaction between one's usual modes of psychologic defense and the realities being defended against. Twelve of 14 men with parental deaths were in the extreme 17-OHCS quartiles. When mean environmental temperature fell, the group mean 17-OHCS rose, the men with more apparent body fat responding least. Results suggested that an individual's 17-OHCS level is influenced by psychologic, biologic, historic and environmental variables.