Chronicity of depressive problems and the cortisol response to psychosocial stress in adolescents: The TRAILS study

Booij, Sanne H.; Bouma, Esther; Jonge, Peter de; Ormel, Johan; Oldehinkel, Albertine J.

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.08.004

Cited by 89 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Badanes and colleagues (2011) reported that low cortisol output across the day was associated with higher scores on a measure of emotional distress in a sample of preschoolers, and Sontag-Padilla et al (2012) observed that self-reported distress symptoms were negatively associated with cortisol reactivity to a pain stressor among girls who had evidence of early adrenarche. Furthermore, our results on the association between low cortisol output and exposure to depression over time are consistent with a recently published study of adolescents, for whom depression scores were obtained at ages 11, 13, and 16 years of age (Booij et a l., 2013). In that study, high cortisol output in response to a social stressor at age 16 was associated with past year depression, whereas adolescents who had experienced chronic depression symptoms from 11 to 16 year of age had lower and flatter cortisol output during and after exposure to the social stressor.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Examining the developmental interface of cortisol and depression symptoms in young adolescent girls

Keenan

Hipwell

Babinski

et al. 2013

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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Despite the substantial amount of data supporting a link between HPA-axis functioning and depression, the ontogeny of this association is not known. The aim of the present study was to contribute data on the developmental interface of HPA-axis functioning and depression in girls by testing associations between repeated measures of depression symptoms and cortisol levels in childhood and early adolescence. Girls (N= 232) and their mothers, who were participating in a longitudinal study, were interviewed about depression symptoms annually from ages 9 to 12 years. Cortisol was assayed from saliva at ages 10 and 12 years upon arrival to the lab and following administration of the cold pressor task (CPT). Time of day of collection of saliva and level of pubertal development were included as covariates in model testing. Although most girls did not show an increase in cortisol in response to the CPT, lower levels of output during the CPT were associated with higher levels of depression symptoms. These findings were observed only for cortisol levels assessed at age 12 years. Girls with low levels of cortisol output at age 12, and decreases in output from ages 10 to 12, had stable or slightly increasing depression symptoms from ages 9 to 12 years. We conclude that associations between HPA-axis functioning and depression emerge as early as age 12. However, individual differences in cortisol levels at age 12 also were associated with depression symptoms at earlier ages. The data suggest two possibilities: 1) that childhood depression is associated with HPA-axis dysregulation, but that age related changes in the sensitivity or plasticity of the HPA-axis may result in a delay in the emergence of such an association, or 2) that dysregulation of the functioning of the HPA-axis develops following repeated experience of depression symptoms.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Examining the developmental interface of cortisol and depression symptoms in young adolescent girls

Keenan

Hipwell

Babinski

et al. 2013

Psychoneuroendocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Greater cortisol responses have been reported for depressed compared to non-depressed adolescents (Rao et al, 2008), dysphoric post-pubertal youth compared to non-dysphoric youth (Hankin et al, 2010), and adolescents with more recent onset of depressive symptoms (Booij et al, 2013). In contrast, blunted cortisol responses have been reported for dysphoric pre-pubertal youth compared to non-dysphoric youth (Hankin et al, 2010), adolescents with more severe depression severity (Harkness et al, 2011), adolescents with internalizing symptoms (Spies et al, 2011), children with higher self-reported depressive symptoms (Dieleman et al, 2010), children with current, past or sub-syndromal MDD (Suzuki et al, 2013), and adolescents with more chronic depressive symptoms (Booij et al, 2013). Taken together, these findings suggest that alterations in cortisol reactivity are not limited to youth with depressive diagnoses and may be determined by a variety of factors including depression severity and developmental timing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Depressive symptom composites associated with cortisol stress reactivity in adolescents

Morris

Kouros

Mielock

et al. 2017

Journal of Affective Disorders

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Background Altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function is common in youth with major depressive disorder (MDD) but variability in the strength and direction of HPA alterations has prompted a search for symptom-based subtypes with unique neuroendocrine signatures. This study investigated the extent to which depressive symptom composites were differentially associated with cortisol responses to psychosocial stress. Methods This study examined salivary cortisol responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in 145 adolescents who varied in their risk for MDD: 38 had current MDD; 35 were healthy but at high risk for MDD based on having one or both parents with unipolar MDD; and 72 were healthy youth with no personal or family history of a psychiatric disorder. Multilevel models examined within-person change in cortisol levels during a 2-hour resting phase prior to the TSST and both linear and quadratic changes in cortisol levels following the TSST. Results Anticipatory cortisol reactivity was lower in MDD youth compared to low-risk youth, and in youth with higher compared to lower depressive symptom severity. Whereas affective symptoms were associated with increased anticipatory cortisol reactivity and more rapid recovery to the TSST, neurovegetative symptoms were associated with decreased anticipatory cortisol reactivity and slower recovery. Limitations The cross-sectional design does not permit inferences regarding temporal relations between cortisol responses and depressive symptom composites. Conclusions The present findings suggest that heterogeneity among studies examining HPA reactivity in depressed youth may be driven, in part, by differences in depressive symptom composites across samples.

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“…Studies examining HPA-axis responses to psychosocial stressors have been equivocal. Some have linked greater post-stress cortisol with depression symptoms (Booij et al, 2013) and diagnosis (Rao et al, 2008). Yet, whether such findings reflect excitatory (more intense/prolonged activation) or inhibitory factors (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

HPA-axis stress reactivity in youth depression: evidence of impaired regulatory processes in depressed boys

Lopez-Duran

McGinnis

Kuhlman

et al. 2015

Stress

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Given the link between youth depression and stress exposure, efforts to identify related biomarkers have involved examinations of stress regulation systems, including the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. Despite these vast efforts, the underlying mechanisms at play, as well as factors that may explain heterogeneity of past findings, are not well understood. In this study, we simultaneously examined separate components of the HPA-axis response (e.g. activation intensity, peak levels, recovery) to the Socially Evaluated Cold-Pressor Test in a targeted sample of 115 youth (age 9–16), recruited to overrepresent youth with elevated symptoms of depression. Among youth who displayed a cortisol response to the task, depression symptoms were associated with higher peak responses but not greater rate of activation or recovery in boys only. Among those who did not respond to the task, depression symptoms were associated with greater cortisol levels throughout the visit in boys and girls. Results suggest that depression symptoms are associated with a more prolonged activation of the axis and impaired recovery to psychosocial stressors primarily in boys. We discussed two potential mechanistic explanations of the link between depression symptoms and the duration of activation: (1) inhibitory shift (i.e. point at which the ratio of inhibitory and excitatory input into the axis shifts from greater excitatory to greater inhibitory input) or (2) inhibitory threshold (i.e. level of cortisol exposure required to activate the axis’ feedback inhibition system).

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Chronicity of depressive problems and the cortisol response to psychosocial stress in adolescents: The TRAILS study

Cited by 89 publications

References 43 publications

Examining the developmental interface of cortisol and depression symptoms in young adolescent girls

Examining the developmental interface of cortisol and depression symptoms in young adolescent girls

Depressive symptom composites associated with cortisol stress reactivity in adolescents

HPA-axis stress reactivity in youth depression: evidence of impaired regulatory processes in depressed boys

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