title: Blunted endocrine and cardiovascular reactivity in young healthy women reporting a history of childhood adversity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic or prolonged stress exposure in childhood can alter structural and functional brain development, leading to mental and physical illness and alterations of psychobiological stress systems in adulthood. Recently, attenuation in stress reactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and cardiovascular system have been related to the number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). We set out to investigate the association of ACE duration and age of ACE occurrence on stress reactivity.
  
  
  METHODS
  104 women in the age range 18-25 years (mean=21.7) free of mental and physical illness underwent psychosocial stress testing with the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST). Free saliva cortisol and heart rate were assessed repeatedly before and after the MIST.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Number of ACEs was associated with attenuated cortisol and heart rate responses to stress in a dose-response relationship. Whereas overall duration of ACEs was significantly associated with an attenuated cortisol response, the specific age of first ACE occurrence did not contribute further to the dampened stress response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ACEs are associated with blunted endocrine and cardiovascular stress reactivity in young and healthy women. Adverse life events in childhood, particularly if they occur repeatedly and chronically, show a strong association with alterations in stress reactivity in adulthood, potentially predisposing for later mental or physical disorders.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinics of the University of Basel, Center for Specific Psychotherapy, CBT Unit, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4012 Basel, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 60/62, 4055 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Voellmin
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinics of the University of Basel, Center for Specific Psychotherapy, CBT Unit, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4012 Basel, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 60/62, 4055 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Winzeler
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinics of the University of Basel, Center for Specific Psychotherapy, CBT Unit, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4012 Basel, Switzerland; Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 60/62, 4055 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Evelin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hug
authors.affiliation: University Salzburg, Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Frank H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinics of the University of Basel, Center for Specific Psychotherapy, CBT Unit, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4012 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 60/62, 4055 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gaab
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Binzmuehlestrasse 14/26, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: La Marca
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, McGill University & Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Jens C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Pruessner
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Clinics of the University of Basel, Center for Specific Psychotherapy, CBT Unit, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4012 Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: Klaus.Bader@upkbs.ch.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bader
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008016:Life Change Events; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Adverse childhood experiences; Female; Hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis; Resilience; Stress reactivity; Sympathetic nervous system; Trauma