ELEVATED CORTISOL IN HEALTHY FEMALE ADOLESCENT OFFSPRING OF MOTHERS WITH POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

Publication date: Available online 4 April 2016
Source:Journal of Anxiety Disorders
Author(s): Keke Liu, Camilo J. Ruggero, Brandon Goldstein, Daniel N. Klein, Greg Perlman, Joan Broderick, Roman Kotov
Offspring with maternal PTSD are at increased risk of developing PTSD themselves. Alterations in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may play a role and have been noted in offspring, although evidence is mostly from adult offspring with PTSD symptoms themselves. The present study of adolescent girls (N=472) and their mothers (n=18 with lifetime PTSD versus n=454 with no PTSD) sought to determine whether healthy, non-affected offspring of mothers with PTSD would exhibit altered HPA axis function. Saliva samples were collected from the adolescent girls at waking, 30minutes after waking, and 8 pm on 3 consecutive days. Offspring whose mothers were diagnosed with PTSD demonstrated higher cortisol awakening response (CAR; Cohen's d=.58) and greater total cortisol output (Cohen's d=.62). In this preliminary study, higher cortisol levels during adolescence among offspring of mothers with PTSD may index a vulnerability in these at-risk youth.



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