Hair cortisol concentrations and cortisol stress reactivity predict PTSD symptom increase after trauma exposure during military deployment
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Previous evidence on endocrine risk markers for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been inconclusive. Here, we report results of the first prospective study to investigate whether long-term hair cortisol levels and experimentally-induced cortisol stress reactivity are predictive of the development of PTSD symptomatology in response to trauma during military deployment.
METHODS: Male soldiers were examined before deployment to Afghanistan and at a 12-month post-deployment follow-up using dimensional measures for psychopathological symptoms. The predictive value of baseline (i) hair cortisol concentrations (HCC, N=90) and (ii) salivary cortisol stress reactivity (measured by the Trier Social Stress Test, N=80) for the development of PTSD symptomatology after being exposed to new-onset traumatic events was analyzed.
RESULTS: Baseline cortisol activity significantly predicted PTSD symptom change from baseline to follow-up upon trauma exposure. Specifically, our results consistently revealed that lower HCC and lower cortisol stress reactivity were predictive of a greater increase in PTSD symptomatology in soldiers who had experienced new-onset traumatic events (explaining 5% and 10.3% of variance, respectively). Longitudinal analyses revealed an increase in HCC from baseline to follow-up and a trend for a negative relationship between HCC changes and the number of new-onset traumatic events. Additional pre-deployment analyses revealed that trauma history was reflected in lower HCC (at trend level) and that HCC were negatively related to stressful load.
CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that attenuated cortisol secretion is a risk marker for subsequent development of PTSD symptomatology upon trauma exposure. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings in other samples.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 123-133 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Psychoneuroendocrinology |
Volume | 59 |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2015 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
Scopus | 84937396669 |
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researchoutputwizard | legacy.publication#65498 |
PubMed | 26072152 |
ORCID | /0000-0002-1171-7133/work/142254983 |
Keywords
Keywords
- Adult, Afghan Campaign 2001-, Hair/chemistry, Humans, Hydrocortisone/analysis, Life Change Events, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Military Personnel, Predictive Value of Tests, Prospective Studies, Psychometrics, Risk Factors, Saliva/chemistry, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis, Stress, Psychological, Wounds and Injuries/metabolism