Thyroid hormone levels and psychological symptoms in sexually abused adolescent girls.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the relationships between psychological symptoms and thyroid hormone levels in adolescent girls who had experienced the traumatic stress of sexual abuse.


METHODS
The study design was cross-sectional/correlational. Subjects (N=22; age range=12-18 years) had their blood drawn, and they completed 2 psychological tests (depression and general distress/posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]). A pediatrician completed a sexual abuse questionnaire after reviewing law enforcement and Child Protective Services reports and conducting forensic interviews and medical examinations.


RESULTS
Girls' average free T4, total T4, free T3, total T3, and TSH levels were within age-specific laboratory reference range limits, as were most individual concentrations. The strongest correlations (p<.05) were between free T3 and PTSD total score (-.50), PTSD-avoidance/numbing (-.49), and general distress (-.48); and between total T3 and depression (-.46), general distress (-.45), and PTSD-arousal (-.44).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings support one of the two contemporary models of the relationships between thyroid hormones (i.e., free and total T3) and psychological symptoms (i.e., depression, general distress, and PTSD)--one of "shutting down" (vs. "activation") in the face of trauma.
Haviland
Mark G
MG
Department of Psychiatry, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, 11374 Mountain View Avenue, Loma Linda, CA 92354-3842, USA.
Sonne
Janet L
JL
Anderson
Donald L
DL
Nelson
Jerald C
JC
Sheridan-Matney
Clare
C
Nichols
Joy G
JG
Carlton
Esther I
EI
Murdoch
William G C
WG
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D035846:Law Enforcement; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*
D013963:Thyroid Hormones