ArticleJournal of epidemiology and community health2015
Childhood abuse is associated with increased hair cortisol levels among urban pregnant women.
Article in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Childhood abuse and perinatal outcomes for mother and child: A systematic review of the literature.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review of hair cortisol during pregnancy: Reference ranges and methodological considerations.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2020Pooled it
- The association between adversity and hair cortisol levels in humans: A meta-analysis.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2019Pooled it
- Association between childhood maltreatment, stressful life events and hair cortisol concentration in late midlife: A prospective investigation.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- The Relations Among Childhood Maltreatment and Later Intimate Partner Violence Victimization With and Without a Weapon in a Sample of Pregnant Black Individuals.Journal of interpersonal violence · 2025Article
- Hair cortisol concentrations in pregnant women with bipolar, depressive, or schizophrenic spectrum disorders.Archives of women's mental health · 2024Article
- Association between adverse childhood experiences and perinatal depressive symptoms: a cross-sectional analysis of 16,831 women in Iceland.Archives of women's mental health · 2023Article
- Recalibration of the stress response system over adult development: Is there a perinatal recalibration period?Development and psychopathology · 2023Review
- Stress before conception and during pregnancy and maternal cortisol during pregnancy: A scoping review.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Intergenerational impact of childhood trauma on hair cortisol concentrations in mothers and their young infants.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Association between trauma exposure and glucocorticosteroid concentration in hair during pregnancy.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Maternal history of childhood maltreatment is associated with diurnal cortisol and DNA methylation of placental 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2.Obstetric medicine · 2023Article
- Cumulative trauma predicts hair cortisol concentrations and symptoms of depression and anxiety in pregnant women-an investigation of community samples from Greece, Spain and Perú.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Childhood adversity, prenatal depression, and maternal inflammation across pregnancy.Obstetric medicine · 2022Article
- Differential associations of parental harshness and parental disengagement with overall cortisol output at 15 years: Implications for adolescent mental health.Development and psychopathology · 2022Article
- Maternal Sociodemographic Factors and Antenatal Stress.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Integrative Review of Early Life Adversity and Cortisol Regulation in Pregnancy.Journal of obstetric, gynecologic, and neonatal nursing : JOGNN · 2021Review
- Within-person changes of cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone in hair across pregnancy, with comparison to a non-pregnant reference group.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021Article
- The Impact of Early-Life Exposures on Women's Reproductive Health in Adulthood.Current epidemiology reports · 2021Review
- The social ecology of childhood and early life adversity.Pediatric research · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity is known to be altered following events such as childhood abuse. However, despite potential adverse consequences for the offspring of women who have experienced abuse, very little is known about altered HPA axis activity during pregnancy.
methodsDuring pregnancy, 180 women from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds reported on their exposure to emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse before the age of 11, and general post-traumatic stress symptoms (ie, not limited to childhood years or abuse experiences). Around delivery, they provided hair samples for the assessment of cortisol levels during pregnancy. Hair cortisol was assessed for each pregnancy trimester. The effect of childhood abuse on hair cortisol was assessed using mixed-effects analyses of covariance models allowing for within-subject correlated observations, and were first performed in the entire sample and subsequently stratified by race/ethnicity.
resultsControlling for post-traumatic stress symptoms, hair cortisol levels varied by history of child abuse, F(2,166)=3.66, p=0.028. Childhood physical and/or sexual abuse was associated with greater hair cortisol levels, t(166)=2.65, p=0.009, compared with no history of abuse. Because childhood rates of abuse and hair cortisol levels varied by race/ethnicity, analyses were stratified by race/ethnicity. The associations between history of abuse and cortisol levels were only significant among black women, F(2,23)=5.37, p=0.012.
conclusionsChildhood abuse, especially physical and/or sexual abuse, is associated with differences in cortisol production during pregnancy, particularly among black women. Future research should investigate how these differences impact physical and mental health outcomes among offspring of affected women.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.