ArticlePloS one2020
Sex-specific associations between person and environment-related childhood adverse events and levels of cortisol and DHEA in adolescence.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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
- Exploring the mediating role of functional connectivity in the association between violence exposure and psychopathology during early adolescence.Brain and cognition · 2026Article
- Adverse Childhood Experiences and alcohol use among U.S.-born and immigrant Latinx youth: the roles of social support and stress hormones.Journal of child and family studies · 2023Article
- The Long-Term Effects of Neonatal Inflammatory Pain on Cognitive Function and Stress Hormones Depend on the Heterogeneity of the Adolescent Period of Development in Male and Female Rats.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2021Article
- Examining the Relationship Between Hair Cortisol With Stress-Related and Transdiagnostic Subclinical Measures.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPerson and environment-related childhood adverse events have been demonstrated to increase the risk of impaired mental health in later life differently for boys and girls. Altered hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA)-axis functioning has been suggested as a key mechanism underlying this association. Cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) are both output hormones of the HPA-axis. DHEA may have a protective function against long-term exposure to increased levels of cortisol, but has been little investigated in relation to childhood adversity.
objectiveWe aimed to test the associations between person-, and environment-related childhood adversity and levels of cortisol, DHEA and cortisol/DHEA ratio in adolescent boys and girls.
methodsA total of 215 Dutch adolescents participated in the study and filled out the 27-item Adverse Life Events Questionnaire for the assessment of childhood adversity, which was split up in separate scores for person-related and environment-related events. Cortisol and DHEA concentrations and cortisol/DHEA ratio were determined in proximal 3 cm long hair segments. Additionally, saliva samples were collected immediately and 30 minutes after waking up, at noon and at 8 pm. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to test associations between childhood adversity and cortisol and DHEA concentrations, for boys and girls separately, with age, BMI and pubertal development as covariates.
resultsData were available for 74 boys and 116 girls with a mean age of 15.7 years (SD = 2.0). Higher levels of person-related childhood adversity were associated with higher hair DHEA levels in girls and with higher hair cortisol levels in boys. A trend towards a significant association was observed between higher levels of environment-related childhood adversity and higher DHEA levels in boys. Neither person- nor environment related childhood adversity was associated with cortisol/DHEA ratio. A trend was observed for environment-related childhood adversity and lower daily cortisol output in boys.
conclusionWe found differential associations between childhood adversity and cortisol and DHEA levels in girls and boys, for respectively person-related and environment-related childhood adversity. Our findings suggest that different types of childhood adversity are not only linked to levels of cortisol, but also to DHEA concentrations, in a sex-specific manner, with possible future implications for mental health.
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