ArticleEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2025
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.
Article in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Hair cortisol as psychotherapy process parameter - an inpatient pediatric psychosomatic study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Childhood and adolescence are pivotal periods for mental health. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is the primary stress system and its chronic activation is measurable via hair cortisol concentration (HCC), indicating long-term stress exposure. While HCC is linked to adult mental health, this relationship remains unclear among youth. Although a bidirectional relationship is possible, the impact of mental health problems on HCC in youths has been comparatively underexplored. This study aimed to assess the association between symptoms of mental health problems in childhood and adolescence and HCC levels at age 15 in a Brazilian population-based cohort. We analyzed data from the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort, which includes 4,231 children followed from birth. At ages 6, 11 and 15 years, mental health symptoms were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). At age 15, HCC was measured from 3 cm hair samples, quantified through the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To evaluate the cumulative impact of mental health symptoms from childhood to adolescence, group-based trajectory analysis was conducted. Subsequently, linear regression models were used to estimate associations between mental health scores and HCC, with adjustment for relevant covariates. Regression coefficients were exponentiated to improve interpretability. SDQ total difficulties (β = 1.004 [1.000;1.008]) and conduct problems (β = 1.017 [1.004;1.030]) at age 6 were associated with HCC at age 15 in adjusted models. Hyperactivity/inattention symptoms at ages 6 (β = 1.009 [1.001;1.018]) and 11 (β = 1.013 [1.004;1.022]) were associated with HCC in adjusted models. At age 15, hyperactivity/inattention symptoms and HCC was associated with HCC in the partially adjusted model (β = 1.009 [1.000;1.017]). Trajectories of chronic conduct problems and hyperactivity between ages 6 and 15 were also associated with elevated HCC, although for hyperactivity/inattention symptoms the association was not significant. These associations emphasize the links between mental health and chronic stress over time, especially between both conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention symptoms in relation to higher concentrations of HCC.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40085251What OpenQuestion holds
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.