Child Maltreatment, Dating Perpetration of Physical Assault, and Cortisol Reactivity among Disadvantaged Female Adolescents.

Linares, L. Oriana; Shrout, Patrick E.; Nucci-Sack, Anne; Diaz, Angela

Objective: Few studies have examined hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis stress reactivity and its relationship to histories of child maltreatment and physical aggression. We examined the relation of a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and perpetration of dating violence to patterns of cortisol change before (resting) and after (reactivity) exposure to a laboratory stressor. Methods: In a sample of 40 disadvantaged sexually active female adolescent patients (ages 14-17 years), we collected self-reports of lifetime child maltreatment (5 types) and past-year female perpetration of physical assault (PA) acts toward a romantic partner. We assessed changes in salivary cortisol trajectories during resting and reactivity phases following the viewing of a teen dating violence vignette. Results: Reports of CSA (CSA group) were associated with reports of perpetration of severe dating PA (PA group), but the relation of these reports to laboratory-assessed patterns of cortisol changes following the stressor was opposite. As compared with subjects without victimization or perpetration histories (referent group), the CSA group showed the most pronounced positive slope (reactivity), whereas the PA group showed the least positive slope following the laboratory stressor after the overlap between these groups was statistically adjusted. While showing less reactivity to the laboratory stressor, the PA group had higher levels of resting cortisol, which stayed high during reactivity as compared to the referent group. Conclusion: The laboratory paradigm to elicit neuroendocrine stress-related cortisol reactivity appears to be a promising tool for identifying altered cortisol physiology among female adolescents with mixed histories of CSA and perpetration of dating PA. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel

HYDROCORTISONE; CHILD abuse; CHILD sexual abuse; DATING (Social customs); SEX crimes

Neuroendocrinology, 2013, Vol 97, Issue 3, p252

0028-3835

Academic Journal

10.1159/000342958