Effect of childhood physical abuse on cortisol stress response.
BACKGROUND
Abuse and neglect are highly prevalent in children and have enduring neurobiological effects. Stressful early life environments perturb the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which in turn may predispose to psychiatric disorders in adulthood. However, studies of childhood maltreatment and adult HPA function have not yet rigorously investigated the differential effects of maltreatment subtypes, including physical abuse.


OBJECTIVE
In this study, we sought to replicate our previous finding that childhood maltreatment was associated with attenuated cortisol responses to stress and determine whether the type of maltreatment was a determinant of the stress response.


METHODS
Salivary cortisol response to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was examined in a non-clinical sample of women (n = 110). Subjects had no acute medical problems and were not seeking psychiatric treatment. Effects of five maltreatment types, as measured by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, on cortisol response to the TSST were investigated. To further examine the significant (p < 0.005) effect of one maltreatment type, women with childhood physical abuse (PA) (n = 20) were compared to those without past PA (n = 90).


RESULTS
Women reporting childhood PA displayed a significantly blunted cortisol response to the TSST compared with subjects without PA, after controlling for estrogen use, age, other forms of maltreatment, and other potential confounds. There were no differences between PA and control groups with regard to physiological arousal during the stress challenge.


CONCLUSIONS
In a non-clinical sample of women with minimal or no current psychopathology, physical abuse is associated with a blunted cortisol response to a psychosocial stress task.
Carpenter
Linda L
LL
Mood Disorders Research Program and Laboratory for Clinical Neuroscience, Brown Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd, Providence, RI 02906, USA. Linda_Carpenter_MD@Brown.edu
Shattuck
Thaddeus T
TT
Tyrka
Audrey R
AR
Geracioti
Thomas D
TD
Price
Lawrence H
LH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
D006854:Hydrocortisone