ArticleJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2017
Reduced hair cortisol after maltreatment mediates externalizing symptoms in middle childhood and adolescence.
Article in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 104 citations in OpenAlex.
- Childhood violence exposure and externalizing behaviors: A systematic review of the role of physiological biomarkers.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2022Pooled it
- Cross-sectional relation of long-term glucocorticoids in hair with anthropometric measurements and their possible determinants: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2022Pooled it
- Adverse Childhood Events and Health Biomarkers: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in public health · 2021Pooled it
- The association between adversity and hair cortisol levels in humans: A meta-analysis.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2019Pooled it
- The contribution of childhood adversity to cortisol measures of early life stress amongst infants in rural India: Findings from the early life stress sub-study of the SPRING cluster randomised controlled trial (SPRING-ELS).Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2019Trial
- From lifetime stressor exposure to daily stress experience: Associations with hair cortisol.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Hair Cortisol Concentrations in Children: A Longitudinal Analysis Across Childhood.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Hearing and early life adversity: effects of developmental stress on sensory processing.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Association between childhood maltreatment, stressful life events and hair cortisol concentration in late midlife: A prospective investigation.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- Hair cortisol concentration and mental health during childhood and adolescence: evidence that higher cortisol concentration is associated with externalizing problems in a large Brazilian population-based birth cohort.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
- Maternal Childhood Trauma and Offspring Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Function from Infancy to 6 Years of Age.Developmental psychobiology · 2025Article
- Hair cortisol and psychiatric symptomatology in children; outcomes of group CBT.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Impact of childhood maltreatment on aging: a comprehensive Mendelian randomization analysis of multiple age-related biomarkers.Clinical epigenetics · 2024Article
- Association between maltreatment, hair cortisol concentration, positive parent-child interaction, and psychosocial outcomes in Chinese preschool children.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- Child abuse and pubertal timing: what is the role of child sex and identity of the perpetrator?BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Long-term cortisol secretion in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: roles of sex, comorbidity, and symptom presentation.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
- On the complex relationship between resilience and hair cortisol levels in adolescence despite parental physical abuse: a fourth wave of resilience research.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Threat versus deprivation in mother's childhood: Differential relations to hair cortisol and psychopathology in pregnancy.Child abuse & neglect · 2023Article
- Relationship between hair cortisol concentrations and cognitive functioning in adolescents with ADHD.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2023Article
- The developmental consequences of early adverse care on infant macaques: A cross-fostering study.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2022Article
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16 authors at 8 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe enduring impact of childhood maltreatment on biological systems and ensuing psychopathology remains incompletely understood. Long-term effects of stress may be reflected in cumulative cortisol secretion over several months, which is now quantifiable via hair cortisol concentrations (HCC). We conducted a first comprehensive investigation utilizing the potential of hair cortisol analysis in a large sample of maltreated and nonmaltreated children and adolescents.
methodParticipants included 537 children and adolescents (3-16 years; 272 females) with maltreatment (n = 245) or without maltreatment histories (n = 292). Maltreated subjects were recruited from child protection services (CPS; n = 95), youth psychiatric services (n = 56), and the community (n = 94). Maltreatment was coded using the Maltreatment Classification System drawing on caregiver interviews and complemented with CPS records. Caregivers and teachers reported on child mental health. HCC were assessed in the first 3 cm hair segment.
resultsAnalyses uniformly supported that maltreatment coincides with a gradual and dose-dependent reduction in HCC from 9 to 10 years onwards relative to nonmaltreated controls. This pattern emerged consistently from both group comparisons between maltreated and nonmaltreated subjects (27.6% HCC reduction in maltreated 9-16-year-olds) and dimensional analyses within maltreated subjects, with lower HCC related to greater maltreatment chronicity and number of subtypes. Moreover, both group comparisons and dimensional analyses within maltreated youth revealed that relative HCC reduction mediates the effect of maltreatment on externalizing symptoms.
conclusionsFrom middle childhood onwards, maltreatment coincides with a relative reduction in cortisol secretion, which, in turn, may predispose to externalizing symptoms.
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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.