Cortisol Responses to Psychosocial Stress: The Role of Childhood Maltreatment and Depression.

Abstract

This study examined cortisol reactivity to repeated psychosocial stressors in 35 adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 26 years. Participants were divided into three study groups: controls with no history of major depressive disorder (MDD) or childhood maltreatment (n = 18); a diagnosis of MDD at Time 1 but no history of maltreatment (MDD-only; n = 10); and both MDD and maltreatment (MDD+MALTX; n = 7). Participants with MDD recovered from their depressive episode prior to the second psychosocial stress task. The MDD-only group had higher cortisol responses at Time 1 relative to other groups. No between-group differences were observed in cortisol responses at Time 2. Depressed individuals with maltreatment did not differ from controls in their cortisol responses at Time 1 or Time 2. Findings suggest that elevated cortisol stress reactivity is a state-dependent correlate of depression in youth with no history of maltreatment.