Effect of Childhood Trauma on the Association Between Stress-Related Psychological Factors and Hair Cortisol Level in Young Adults
- Author:
Won Jae KIM
1
;
Kyung Mee PARK
;
Jung Tak PARK
;
Eunchong SEO
;
Minji BANG
;
Suk Kyoon AN
;
Hye Yoon PARK
;
Eun LEE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- From:Psychiatry Investigation 2021;18(11):1131-1136
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Objective:Relationship between hair cortisol concentration (HCC) and stress-related psychological measures are inconclusive, possibly due to overlooked heterogeneity regarding childhood trauma and a lack of comprehensive research on stress-related psychological factors. This study aims to compare young adults without history of childhood trauma to young adults who experienced childhood trauma using HCC and various stress-related psychological factors, as well as investigate the impacts of childhood trauma on the association between HCC and stress-related psychological measures.
Methods:A total of 206 young, healthy adults were recruited. We divided participants into two groups depending on whether or not they had suffered moderate-to-severe childhood trauma (CT+ and CT-) and compared HCC and various stress-related psychological measures between groups. Using multiple linear regression analyses, we assessed the associations between HCC and stress-related psychological measures for each group.
Results:We found no difference between the groups in HCC or the reported number of stressful life events in the past year; however, CT+ individuals reported higher stress perception, more depressive and anxiety-related symptoms, and more difficulties in emotion regulation than CT- individuals. HCC was associated with emotion dysregulation among the CT- individuals, but not among the CT+ individuals.
Conclusion:These findings suggest that history of childhood trauma should be considered in studies using HCC as a biomarker for stress in young adults. Furthermore, HCC might be a useful biomarker of stress and stress-related emotion dysregulation in individuals without moderate-to-severe childhood trauma.
