title: Concordance of mother-daughter diurnal cortisol production: Understanding the intergenerational transmission of risk for depression.
abstract: A growing body of research is demonstrating concordance between mother and child diurnal cortisol production. In the context of maternal history of depression, intergenerational concordance of cortisol production could contribute to hypercortisolemia in children of depressed mothers, which has been shown to increase risk for MDD. The current study is the first to examine concordance in diurnal cortisol production between mothers with a history of depression and their never-depressed, but high-risk, children. We collected salivary cortisol across 2 days from mothers with (remitted; RMD) and without (CTL) a history of recurrent episodes of depression and their never-depressed daughters. As expected, RMD mothers and their daughters both exhibited higher cortisol production than did their CTL counterparts. Moreover, both across and within groups, mothers' and daughters' cortisol production were directly coupled. These findings suggest that there is an intergenerational concordance in cortisol dysregulation that may contribute to hypercortisolemia in girls at familial risk for depression.
authors: Stanford University, United States. Electronic address: jlemoult@stanford.edu.
authors: Joelle
authors: J
authors: LeMoult
authors: Harvard University, United States.
authors: Michael C
authors: MC
authors: Chen
authors: Stanford University, United States.
authors: Lara C
authors: LC
authors: Foland-Ross
authors: Boston University, United States.
authors: Hannah W
authors: HW
authors: Burley
authors: Stanford University, United States.
authors: Ian H
authors: IH
authors: Gotlib
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009679:Nuclear Family / Q000523:psychology*; D012306:Risk; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Concordance; Cortisol; Depression; HPA axis; Intergenerational transmission of risk