The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 47 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Hair cortisol concentrations and cortisol stress reactivity predict PTSD symptom increase after trauma exposure during military deployment
Abstract
Background Previous evidence on endocrine risk markers for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been inconclusive. Here, we report results of the first prospective study to investigate whether long-term hair cortisol levels and experimentally-induced cortisol stress reactivity are predictive of the development of PTSD symptomatology in response to trauma during military deployment.Methods Male soldiers were examined before deployment to Afghanistan and at a 12-month post-deployment follow-up using dimensional measures for psychopathological symptoms. The predictive value of baseline (i) hair cortisol concentrations (HCC, N=90) and (ii) salivary cortisol stress reactivity (measured by the Trier Social Stress Test, N=80) for the development of PTSD symptomatology after being exposed to new-onset traumatic events was analyzed.Results Baseline cortisol activity significantly predicted PTSD symptom change from baseline to follow-up upon trauma exposure. Specifically, our results consistently revealed that lower HCC and lower cortisol stress reactivity were predictive of a greater increase in PTSD symptomatology in soldiers who had experienced new-onset traumatic events (explaining 5% and 10.3% of variance, respectively). Longitudinal analyses revealed an increase in HCC from baseline to follow-up and a trend for a negative relationship between HCC changes and the number of new-onset traumatic events. Additional pre-deployment analyses revealed that trauma history was reflected in lower HCC (at trend level) and that HCC were negatively related to stressful load.Conclusions Our data indicate that attenuated cortisol secretion is a risk marker for subsequent development of PTSD symptomatology upon trauma exposure. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings in other samples.
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“providing prospective validation of the hair cortisol method as a field-friendly biological marker of stress exposure”
From Chronic Stress, Hair Cortisol and Depression: A Prospective and Longitudinal Study of Medical Internship (2018) · cites this paper as Steudte-Schmiedgen et al., 2015
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Analysis of cortisol in hair – State of the art and future directions
Stalder, T., & Kirschbaum, C. (2012) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2012.02.002 · Cited by 835
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Hair cortisol, stress exposure, and mental health in humans: A systematic review
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Biological and psychological markers of stress in humans: Focus on the Trier Social Stress Test
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Stress-related and basic determinants of hair cortisol in humans: a meta-analysis
Stalder, T., Steudte-Schmiedgen, S., Alexander, N., Klucken, T., Vater, A., Wichmann, S., Kirschbaum, C., & Miller, R. (2017) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.12.017 · Cited by 855
Self-citationThe resilience framework as a strategy to combat stress-related disorders
Kalisch, R., Baker, D. G., Basten, U., Boks, M. P., Bonanno, G. A., Brummelman, E., Chmitorz, A., Fernàndez, G., Fiebach, C. J., Galatzer-Levy, I., et al. (2017) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-017-0200-8 · Cited by 782
Turner, A. I., Smyth, N., Hall, S. J., Torres, S. J., Hussein, M., Jayasinghe, S. U., Ball, K., & Clow, A. J. (2020) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104599 · Cited by 503
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in PTSD: Pathophysiology and treatment interventions
Dunlop, B. W., & Wong, A. (2018) · Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2018.10.010 · Cited by 271
“From the same study that evaluated hair cortisol concentrations in pre-deployment veterans, lower cortisol response to the TSST was a stronger predictor of PTSD symptoms, explaining 10% of the variance (Steudte-Schmiedgen et al., 2015).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialThe association between adversity and hair cortisol levels in humans: A meta-analysis
Khoury, J. E., Bosquet Enlow, M., Plamondon, A., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (2019) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.01.009 · Cited by 170
Metadata
- Authors
- Steudte-Schmiedgen, S., Stalder, T., Schönfeld, S., Wittchen, H.-U., Trautmann, S., Alexander, N., Miller, R., & Kirschbaum, C.
- Affiliations
- Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-09
- Volume
- 59
- Pages
- 123-133
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1483199116
- Cited by
- 130
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 16.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Keywords
- post-traumatic stress disorder, hair cortisol, salivary cortisol, Trier Social Stress Test, military deployment, military personnel, trauma exposure, stress load, trauma history
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Hair, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Life Change Events, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Military Personnel, Predictive Value of Tests, Prospective Studies, Psychometrics, Risk Factors, Saliva, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Stress, Psychological, Wounds and Injuries, Afghan Campaign 2001-
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