Psychoneuroendocrinology
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Psychoneuroendocrinology · May 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialChronicity of depressive problems and the cortisol response to psychosocial stress in adolescents: the TRAILS study.
Clinical and epidemiological studies, further supported by meta-analytic studies, indicate a possible association between chronicity (i.e., persistence or recurrence) of depression and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responsiveness to psychosocial stress. In the present study, we examined whether and how chronicity of depressive problems predicts cortisol responses to a standardized social stress test in adolescents. Data were collected in a high-risk focus sample (n=351) of the Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) cohort, a large prospective population study with bi- to triennial measurements. ⋯ Chronicity of depressive problems was significantly associated with cortisol stress responses. The relationship was curvilinear, with recent-onset depressive problems predicting an increased cortisol response, and more chronic depressive problems a blunted response. The results of this study suggest that depressive problems initially increase cortisol responses to stress, but that this pattern reverses when depressive problems persist over prolonged periods of time.