Increased cortisol in women with intimate partner violence-related posttraumatic stress disorder☆☆Research was conduited at the University of Pittsburgh. First author is now at the Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco and at the University of California, san Francisco. Portions of this data were presented at the new york Academy of Sciences Meeting; Psychobiology of Post-Traumatic stress Disorder: A Decade of this progress, New York (September 11-13, 2005). An extended abstract of this presentatio

Intimate partner violence and diurnal cortisol patterns in couples

“…Stronger effects of IPV victimization on women's diurnal cortisol patterns may indicate that such victimization has a stronger detrimental effect on the body's adaptation to stress or allostatic load for women than for men (Saxbe et al, 2008). Although the present study did not examine subsequent health outcomes due to HPA axis dysregulation, our findings thus suggest that one of the ways that physical IPV victimization can lead to negative health outcomes such as depression and anxiety in women may be via dysregulation of the HPA axis system (Pico-Alfonso et al, 2004; Inslicht et al, 2006). This also suggests that focusing on endocrine processes such as the stress-linked HPA axis system may further advance our understanding of gender-specific vulnerabilities to IPV-related health outcomes.…”

“…Alternatively, it is possible that the association between IPV involvement and HPA axis activity is bidirectional, leading to reciprocity between the two processes (Granger et al, 1996). In addition, some factors that have been shown to be relevant contributors to dysregulated HPA axis activity were not controlled for, such as chronicity of IPV involvement (e.g., Johnson et al, 2008), PTSD (e.g., Inslicht, et al, 2006), social isolation (e.g., Grant et al, 2009), physical health and sleep quality and duration, and chronic stress other than exposure to IPV (e.g., poverty) (Fries et al, 2009). Likewise, although we incorporated information from the participants’ daily diary into the models, we were unable to monitor wake time and saliva-collection times electronically.…”

“…From this perspective, one pathway that links IPV with negative health outcomes may be via the impact of IPV victimization on dysregulation of stress-linked endocrine processes (Repetti et al, 2002), more specifically, alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity (Feinberg et al, 2011). Increasing the understanding of the direct associations between IPV and HPA axis activity may help explain individual differences in vulnerabilities to IPV-related health problems, which would facilitate the development of more effective treatment programs (Inslicht et al, 2006). In a community sample of couples, the present study examined associations between physical IPV victimization and diurnal patterns of the glucocorticoid hormone cortisol (as measured in saliva), a major hormonal end product of the HPA axis.…”

“…Married couples’ hostile and negative behaviors were associated with increases in cortisol levels (Kiecolt-Glaser et al, 2003; Robles et al, 2006). Recent evidence suggests dysregulation in HPA axis activity among individuals with a history of physical IPV victimization, especially in women (Seedat et al, 2003; Pico-Alfonso et al, 2004; Inslicht et al, 2006). Using plasma cortisol collected once in the morning, Seedat et al (2003) found that women who were victims of physical IPV showed lower levels of morning cortisol relative to women who were not victims of IPV.…”

Effect of current and lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder on 24-h urinary catecholamines and cortisol: Results from the Mind Your Heart Study

“…That study found increased norepinephrine in PTSD but only when taking depression into account (Young and Breslau 2004). Of note, some studies did not find elevated catecholamines in patients with PTSD (Pitman and Orr 1990; Inslicht, Marmar et al 2006). Findings on cortisol secretion in PTSD are even less homogenous (Meewisse, Reitsma et al 2007).…”