ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2019
Hair cortisol and depressive symptoms in youth: An investigation of curvilinear relationships.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early childhood stress responses to psychosocial stressors: The state of the science.Developmental psychobiology · 2022Pooled it
- Major depressive disorder in children and adolescents is associated with reduced hair cortisol and anandamide (AEA): cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from a large randomized clinical trial.Translational psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Hair Cortisol as a Biomarker of Chronic Stress in Community-Dwelling Adults With Longstanding Multiple Sclerosis.Western journal of nursing research · 2026Article
- The association between levels of GPS-tracked activity space violent crime and the relationship between cortisol and a biomarker of inflammation amongst Black and White adolescents.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Hair cortisol as psychotherapy process parameter - an inpatient pediatric psychosomatic study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Conflict resolution dynamics with stable caregivers confer resilience for youth exposed to early caregiving-related adversity.Development and psychopathology · 2025Article
- Shared biological pathways linking ADHD and cortisol variability are related to externalizing behaviors.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- Sex differences in associations between hair glucocorticoids and internalizing symptoms in adolescents.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- Changes in Stress Following Wage Increases for Early Childhood Educators.Early childhood education journal · 2025Article
- Associations between adolescent perceived loneliness and hair cortisol concentration.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Hair cortisol and psychiatric symptomatology in children; outcomes of group CBT.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Psychological and Physiological Stress and Stressors in Early Childhood Educators: An Observational Pilot Study.Psychology in the schools · 2024Article
- Identifying plasma metabolic characteristics of major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia in adolescents.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Emotional Vulnerability in Adolescents (EVA) Longitudinal Study: Identifying individual differences in symptoms of adolescent depression and anxiety and their biopsychosocial mechanisms based on demographic and mental health characteristics.Wellcome open research · 2024Article
- Non-linear associations between HPA axis activity during infancy and mental health difficulties during early childhood among children in rural Pakistan.Development and psychopathology · 2023Article
- Associations of depression and anxiety and adolescent telomere length.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Everyday perceptions of safety and racial disparities in hair cortisol concentration.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Hair Cortisol and Perceived Stress-Predictors for the Onset of Tics? A European Longitudinal Study on High-Risk Children.Biomedicines · 2023Article
- The Queensland Twin Adolescent Brain Project, a longitudinal study of adolescent brain development.Scientific data · 2023Article
- Pre-pandemic socio-emotional vulnerability, internalizing and externalizing symptoms predict changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in children.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAs the prevalence of depression is increasing among youth in the U.S., research on the utility of biomarkers in predicting depressive symptomatology is burgeoning. Hair cortisol may be a useful biomarker as it is a retrospective and longer-term measure of the mean cortisol level. However, studies have yet to examine the relationships between hair cortisol and depressive symptoms in samples of youth, and findings with adult samples are mixed. This study examined hair cortisol as a predictor of depressive symptoms, including the potential for nonlinear relationships.
methodsA representative community sample of 432 adolescents aged 11 to 17 years was examined. Depressive symptoms were measured using a 9-item short-form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale. Hair was cut from the posterior vertex region of the scalp using thinning shears. Hair was washed, minced, ground and assayed with Salimetrics® Cortisol Enzyme Immunoassay Kit. Hair cortisol levels were logged for statistical analysis.
resultsIn multivariable regression analysis, no significant linear relationship was found in model 1 between hair cortisol and depressive symptoms (b= -0.036, se = 0.02, p = 0.13). In model 2, a marginally significant linear association (b= -0.044, se = 0.02, p-value = 0.06) and a significant curvilinear relationship (b = 0.039, se = 0.01, p-value = 0.005) were found between hair cortisol and depressive symptoms. The results were graphed depicting a u-shaped curve such that hair cortisol levels on the lower and higher end of the distribution predicted depressive symptoms.
conclusionsThe findings highlight the need to consider investigation of nonlinear associations between cortisol and depressive symptoms. Longitudinal mechanistic research is needed to elucidate the causal relationships between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation and depressive symptoms as well as a better understanding of the biological mechanisms through which cortisol may contribute to depressive symptoms and psychopathology.
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