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Cited by 170Stress Responses and CortisolChild Abuse and TraumaAdrenal Hormones and Disorders

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 104 of the 106 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

The association between adversity and hair cortisol levels in humans: A meta-analysis

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Khoury, Jennifer E., Bosquet Enlow, Michelle, Plamondon, André, Lyons-Ruth, Karlen·2019·Psychoneuroendocrinology
DOI 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.01.009PMC PMC6450779
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Abstract

Adverse life events are associated with a constellation of negative health outcomes. Theory and research suggest that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis acts as one mechanism connecting adverse experiences with negative health outcomes. However, this relation is complicated by the potential for adversity to be associated with both hyperactivity and hypoactivity of the HPA axis, as assessed in both animal and human studies. Over the past decade, methodological advances have enabled the sampling of cortisol stored in hair, which provides a marker of HPA axis activity over a several-month period. The present meta-analysis included 28 studies to assess the strength and direction of the relation between adverse experiences and hair cortisol levels. Analyses were conducted using multilevel modeling (MLM) to quantify the magnitude of effects and mixture modeling to identify distinct subgroups of studies. Results of MLM analyses indicated that the overall effect size was small but significant d = 0.213, 95% CI [0.034, 0.397]. There was also significant between-study variance (τ = 0.155, 95% CI [0.065, 0.367]). Mixture modeling to identify distinct classes of studies based on effect size and direction resulted in a 2-class model: The first class included four studies with an overall negative and moderate effect size (d = -0.478, 95% CI [-0.639, -0.318]), and the second class included the remaining 24 studies with an overall positive and significant, albeit small, effect size (d = 0.141, 95% CI [0.084, 0.199]). Moderator analyses indicated that the strength and direction of the association between adversity and hair cortisol were moderated by features of the adversity exposure (e.g., type of adversity, timing of adversity), characteristics of the samples (e.g., clinical status, racial distribution), and features of the publication (e.g., publication type, geographic region of study). The findings refine our understanding of the long-term impact of adversity on dysregulation of the HPA axis, particularly as reflected in hair cortisol measures.

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Guilliams, 2010, Chronic stress and the HPA axis, The standard, 9, 1
  2. *Keenan-Devlin, 2015, The weight of structural violence:syndemic stress and obesity among black urban youth in the US, Diss. Abstr. Int.
  3. Muthén, 2013, BSEM measurement invariance analysis, Mplus Web Notes, 17, 1

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Metadata

Authors
Khoury, J. E., Bosquet Enlow, M., Plamondon, A., & Lyons-Ruth, K.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • University of Toronto (CA)
Corresponding author
Khoury, Jennifer E.
ORCID
Khoury, Jennifer E.
Venue
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-05
Volume
103
Pages
104-117
ISSN
0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.01.009
PMC
PMC6450779
OpenAlex
W2910167098
Cited by
170
References
106
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 4
FWCI
2.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD079484)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
Keywords
adversity, life events, hair cortisol, HPA axis dysregulation, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, chronic stress, cortisol biomarkers
MeSH terms
Adverse Childhood Experiences, Female, Hair, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Male, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Stress, Psychological

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