Greater lifetime stress exposure predicts blunted cortisol but heightened DHEA responses to acute stress
Open accessAbstract
Although prior research has examined how early adversity and chronic stress exposure relate to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses to acute stress, to date, no studies have examined how stressors occurring over the entire lifespan predict such responses. To address this issue, we recruited 61 healthy young adults and measured their exposure to 55 different types of acute life events and chronic difficulties occurring over the lifespan. In addition, we characterized differences in participants' HPA axis responses to acute stress by measuring their salivary cortisol and DHEA responses to the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups. Greater cumulative stress exposure was associated with a blunted cortisol response, but a heightened DHEA response, to the acute stressor. Moreover, it was participants' exposure to these stressors (i.e., lifetime count), not their perceived severity, which predicted their cortisol and DHEA responses to acute stress. Furthermore, differential effects were observed by stress exposure domain. Notably, only adulthood and marital/partner stressors significantly predicted cortisol responses to acute stress, whereas stress was more uniformly associated with DHEA responses to the acute stressor. These results thus reveal how cumulative stress exposure is associated with HPA axis responsivity to acute stress, while highlighting the fact that different stressors may have substantially different associations with these biological outcomes.
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The STRAIN predicts biological reactivity to acute stress, metabolic function, memory, diurnal cortisol levels in women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, depression and fatigue in women diagnosed with breast cancer, and self-reported mental and physical health in the general population.
“This approach yielded eight preliminary studies, showing that the STRAIN predicts biological reactivity to acute stress (27), metabolic function (28), memory (29), diurnal cortisol levels in women diagnosed with ovarian cancer (30), depression and fatigue in women diagnosed with breast cancer (31,32), and self-reported mental and physical health in the general population (33,34).”
From Assessing Lifetime Stress Exposure Using the Stress and Adversity Inventory for Adults (Adult STRAIN): An Overview and Initial Validation (2018) · cites this paper as [27]
The STRAIN has previously been validated against health-relevant biomarkers.
“we have previously validated the STRAIN against health-relevant biomarkers (27,28,30)”
From Assessing Lifetime Stress Exposure Using the Stress and Adversity Inventory for Adults (Adult STRAIN): An Overview and Initial Validation (2018) · cites this paper as [27]
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- Authors
- Lam, J. C. W., Shields, G. S., Trainor, B. C., Slavich, G. M., & Yonelinas, A. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lam, Jovian C.W.
- Shields, Grant S.
- Venue
- Stress and Health
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-09-19
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 15-26
- ISSN
- 1532-2998 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-3005
- PMC
- PMC6377358
- OpenAlex
- W2885204683
- Cited by
- 107
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 7 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 4.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Stress and Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (K08 MH103443, R01 MH059352, R01 MH103322)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Keywords
- cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, acute stress response, Trier Social Stress Test for Groups, salivary biomarkers, blunted cortisol response
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Dehydroepiandrosterone, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Male, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Biomarkers, Allostasis, Young Adult, Healthy Volunteers
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