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Relations between recurrent trauma exposure and recent life stress and salivary cortisol among children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2008

Katherine Bevans ,
Arleen Cerbone  and
Stacy Overstreet
Katherine Bevans*
Affiliation:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Arleen Cerbone
Affiliation:
UCB Pharma, Inc.
Stacy Overstreet
Affiliation:
Tulane University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Katherine Bevans, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, CHOP North, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4399; E-mail: bevans@email.chop.edu.
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Abstract

The present study evaluated the independent and cumulative effects of recent life stress, previous trauma, and recent trauma exposure on salivary cortisol levels among school-aged children. Sixty-eight children (mean age = 10.7 years) reported their exposure to life stressors and traumatic events in the 12 months preceding the study. Children and their caregivers reported frequency of exposure to trauma earlier in life. Exposure to life stress within the past 12 months was related to higher afternoon cortisol levels. Exposure to high levels of recent trauma in combination with frequent exposure to trauma earlier in life was related to both lower morning cortisol levels and higher afternoon cortisol levels. Results suggest that frequency, duration, and severity of exposure to stress and trauma played key roles in the prediction of basal cortisol levels in a community sample of urban youth.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , Winter 2008 , pp. 257 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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Footnotes

We thank the Robert E. Flowerree fund and the Georges Lurcy Fund for Faculty Research for their research support.

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