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It’s all in the hair: Changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms in children

BACKGROUND: About 25 to 35% of victims of a traumatic event will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Low cortisol levels appear to be a risk factor for the development of PTSD. In adults, decreased diurnal and cumulative cortisol levels before or shortly after a traumatic event are associ...

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Autores principales: Bilodeau-Houle, Alexe, Raymond, Catherine, Marin, Marie-France
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Pergamon Press 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10267726/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106236
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author Bilodeau-Houle, Alexe
Raymond, Catherine
Marin, Marie-France
author_facet Bilodeau-Houle, Alexe
Raymond, Catherine
Marin, Marie-France
author_sort Bilodeau-Houle, Alexe
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: About 25 to 35% of victims of a traumatic event will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Low cortisol levels appear to be a risk factor for the development of PTSD. In adults, decreased diurnal and cumulative cortisol levels before or shortly after a traumatic event are associated with increased post-traumatic symptoms in the months thereafter. In contrast, results from the only two studies conducted in children showed that elevated diurnal cortisol levels shortly after exposure to a traumatic event are associated with more severe post-traumatic symptomatology. Given that a pandemic can induce post-traumatic stress symptoms, we investigated whether cumulative cortisol levels prior to and in the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec (Canada) predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms in children. METHODS: We collected hair samples from 69 children (8-12 y/o) without history of psychopathology and exposure to a traumatic event. Cortisol levels were measured before (December 2019 - February 2020) and at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020 - May 2020). Post-traumatic stress symptoms were assessed every 3 months between June 2020 (T1) and March 2021 (T4). RESULTS: The results showed that the percentage change in cumulative cortisol levels between the beginning of and prior to the pandemic predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms at T1. Specifically, a decrease in cortisol levels early in the pandemic was associated with increased post-traumatic stress symptoms. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that a decrease in cortisol in response to a stressful event may be a predisposing factor for PTSD in children.
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spelling pubmed-102677262023-06-15 It’s all in the hair: Changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms in children Bilodeau-Houle, Alexe Raymond, Catherine Marin, Marie-France Psychoneuroendocrinology Article BACKGROUND: About 25 to 35% of victims of a traumatic event will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Low cortisol levels appear to be a risk factor for the development of PTSD. In adults, decreased diurnal and cumulative cortisol levels before or shortly after a traumatic event are associated with increased post-traumatic symptoms in the months thereafter. In contrast, results from the only two studies conducted in children showed that elevated diurnal cortisol levels shortly after exposure to a traumatic event are associated with more severe post-traumatic symptomatology. Given that a pandemic can induce post-traumatic stress symptoms, we investigated whether cumulative cortisol levels prior to and in the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec (Canada) predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms in children. METHODS: We collected hair samples from 69 children (8-12 y/o) without history of psychopathology and exposure to a traumatic event. Cortisol levels were measured before (December 2019 - February 2020) and at the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020 - May 2020). Post-traumatic stress symptoms were assessed every 3 months between June 2020 (T1) and March 2021 (T4). RESULTS: The results showed that the percentage change in cumulative cortisol levels between the beginning of and prior to the pandemic predicted post-traumatic stress symptoms at T1. Specifically, a decrease in cortisol levels early in the pandemic was associated with increased post-traumatic stress symptoms. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that a decrease in cortisol in response to a stressful event may be a predisposing factor for PTSD in children. Pergamon Press 2023-07 2023-06-15 /pmc/articles/PMC10267726/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106236 Text en Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.
spellingShingle Article
Bilodeau-Houle, Alexe
Raymond, Catherine
Marin, Marie-France
It’s all in the hair: Changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms in children
title It’s all in the hair: Changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms in children
title_full It’s all in the hair: Changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms in children
title_fullStr It’s all in the hair: Changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms in children
title_full_unstemmed It’s all in the hair: Changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms in children
title_short It’s all in the hair: Changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms in children
title_sort it’s all in the hair: changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the covid-19 pandemic predicts post-traumatic stress symptoms in children
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10267726/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106236
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