Differential associations between childhood trauma subtypes and adolescent HPA-axis functioning
Open accessAbstract
Summary Studies examining the association between childhood trauma exposure and neuroendocrine functioning have returned inconsistent findings. To date, few studies have accounted for the role exposure to different types of childhood trauma may have on different neuroendocrine adaptations, and no study has examined this association using multiple indices of hypothalamic—pituitary—adrenal axis (HPA-axis) functioning. The purpose of this study was to characterize the unique associations between exposure to physical abuse, emotional abuse, and non-intentional trauma, and multiple indices of HPA-axis functioning. Methods A community sample of 138 youth (aged 9—16) completed the Socially Evaluated Cold Pressor Task (SE-CPT) while their parents completed the Early Trauma Inventory (ETI). All youth then collected 4 diurnal salivary cortisol samples at home across 2 consecutive weekdays. Results High reported exposure to non-intentional trauma was associated with intact diurnal regulation but elevated cortisol at bedtime, physical abuse was associated with faster reactivity to acute stress, and emotional abuse was associated with delayed recovery of cortisol following acute stress. Taken together, there was a heterogeneous relationship among different indices of HPA-axis functioning and trauma subtype. Discussion Different types of childhood trauma exposure are related to distinct anomalies in HPA-axis functioning. This study underscores the importance of research incorporating multiple indices of HPA-axis functioning to inform our understanding of the underlying neuroendocrine dysregulation that may later lead to stress-related psychopathology.
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ELS/CT exposure in the first 2 years of life is associated with prolonged cortisol reactivity to acute social stressors among adolescents.
“Studies from Kuhlman et al. (94, 113) confirmed that ELS/CT exposure in the first 2 years in life is associated with prolonged cortisol reactivity to acute social stressors among adolescents.”
From Developmental Trajectories of Early Life Stress and Trauma: A Narrative Review on Neurobiological Aspects Beyond Stress System Dysregulation (2019) · cites this paper as [94]
Results §3.3 reports that adolescents with more emotional abuse exposure had elevated cortisol for longer after an acute stressor. But Limitations §4.1 explicitly says the study did not examine age of trauma onset, so it cannot support the claim about exposure in the first two years of life. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSeveral factors may have influenced study findings on ELS/CT and HPA axis activity, such as the subtype and nature of trauma, sex, timing and duration of exposure, and assessment of phasic versus time-integrated cortisol values.
“Thereby, several factors may have influenced study findings, such as the exact subtype and nature of trauma, sex, the timing and duration of exposure and the assessment of phasic (e.g., diurnal saliva cortisol, cortisol reactivity to challenge) vs. time-integrated cortisol values (e.g., hair cortisol) (94, 95).”
From Developmental Trajectories of Early Life Stress and Trauma: A Narrative Review on Neurobiological Aspects Beyond Stress System Dysregulation (2019) · cites this paper as [94]
The Discussion and Conclusions (page not provided) link differing HPA-axis findings to trauma subtype, duration and frequency, and the use of multiple cortisol indices. The Limitations discuss sex-related developmental differences and acknowledge that trauma-onset timing was not examined. The paper measures salivary cortisol but does not address the claimed contrast with time-integrated hair cortisol. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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References 58 · Cited by 178
- Authors
- Kuhlman, K. R., Geiss, E. G., Vargas, I., & Lopez-Duran, N. L.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kuhlman, Kate R.
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-04
- Volume
- 54
- Pages
- 103-114
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4384935
- OpenAlex
- W2063657928
- Semantic Scholar
- 5f3720228eb0aac65aca2b1df4b35c246d602aa7
- Cited by
- 178
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 9.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation
- American Psychological Foundation
- Rackham Graduate School
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- childhood trauma, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, physical abuse, emotional abuse, cortisol response, cortisol recovery, acute stress response, neuroendocrine dysfunction, adolescents
- MeSH terms
- Psychological Trauma, Adolescent, Child, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Male, Pituitary-Adrenal System
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