Not the Root of the Problem—Hair Cortisol and Cortisone Do Not Mediate the Effect of Child Maltreatment on Body Mass Index

Abstract

Background: Experiencing maltreatment during childhood exerts substantial stress on the child and increases the risk for overweight and obesity later in life. The current study tests whether hair cortisol-a measure of chronic stress-and its metabolite cortisone mediate the relation between abuse and neglect on the one hand, and body mass index (BMI) on the other. Method: The sample consisted of 249 participants aged 8 to 87 years (M = 36.13, SD = 19.33). We collected data on child abuse and neglect using questionnaires, measured cortisol and cortisone concentrations in hair, and BMI. In a structural model, the effects of abuse and neglect on hair cortisol, hair cortisone, and BMI were tested, as well as the covariance between hair cortisol and BMI, and hair cortisone and BMI. Results: Within the sample, 23% were overweight but not obese and 14% were obese. Higher levels of experienced abuse were related to higher cortisone concentrations in hair (b = 0.24, p < .001) and higher BMI (b = 0.17, p =.04). Neglect was not related to hair cortisol, hair cortisone, or BMI. Hair cortisol and cortisone did not mediate the association between maltreatment, and BMI. Sensitivity analyses demonstrate the same pattern of results in a subsample of adult participants currently not living with their parents. However, in younger participants who were still living with their parents, the associations between abuse and cortisone (b = 0.14, p =.35) and abuse and BMI (b = 0.02, p =.92) were no longer significant. Conclusion: These findings confirm that experiencing abuse is related to higher BMI but suggest that hair cortisol and cortisone are not the mechanism underlying the association between child maltreatment and BMI. This is the first study to show abuse may be

Cross‐sectional relation of long‐term glucocorticoids in hair with anthropometric measurements and their possible determinants: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The literature search identified 1017 unique citation titles of which a total of 120 studies 5,13,14,16,19,30,33–146 comprising 146 separate cohorts were included (Figure 1). This corresponds to a total of 34,342 included participants of which 15,698 (46%) were sampled from general population‐based studies (Table 1).…”

Body Mass Index and Its Association with Genetically Transmitted Traits

“…Additionally, a large-volume study conducted on US population showed that risk factor for developing Parkinson's disease increases with decreasing darkness of hair color [ 15 ]. Moreover, a recent report revealed that there is no direct effect of hair cortisol and hair cortisone on BMI [ 16 ].…”

Linking internalizing and externalizing problems to warmth and negativity in observed dyadic parent–offspring communication

“…Participants with offspring were invited to visit the laboratory twice—once with their family of origin (parents and siblings) and once with their partner and offspring. A laboratory visit took approximately 7 hours and involved questionnaires, computer tasks, family interaction tasks, and collection of saliva and hair samples (e.g., Pittner et al, 2020). Informed consent was obtained from all participants.…”