Victims of rape show increased cortisol responses to trauma reminders: A study in individuals with war- and torture-related PTSD

Gola, Hannah; Engler, Harald; Schauer, Maggie; Adenauer, Hannah; Riether, Carsten; Kolassa, Stephan; Elbert, Thomas; Kolassa, Iris‐Tatjana

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.06.005

Cited by 52 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(46 reference statements)

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“…One potential hypothesis is that the video (which contains rape-related information) may be perceived as a stressor. The extant literature is mixed with regard to HPA axis functioning in response to stressor challenges and trauma cues, particularly among those with prior history of traumatic event exposure (e.g., Santa Ana et al, 2006; Carpenter et al, 2007; Gola et al, 2012;). We also observed positive associations between OC use and pre-rape mental health treatment, which may be seen as consistent with some research suggesting that OC use may be prescribed to treat mood disorder symptoms (e.g., Joffe, Cohen, & Harlow, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortisol at the emergency room rape visit as a predictor of PTSD and depression symptoms over time

Walsh

Nugent

Kotte

et al. 2013

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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Background Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, typically reflected by alterations in cortisol responsivity, has been associated with exposure to traumatic events and the development of stress-related disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Methods Serum cortisol was measured at the time of a post sexual assault medical exam among a sample of 323 female victims of recent sexual assault. Analyses were conducted among 235 participants who provided data regarding history of previous assault as well as PTSD and depression symptoms during at least one of three follow-ups. Results Growth curve models suggested that prior history of assault and serum cortisol were positively associated with the intercept and negatively associated with the slope of PTSD and depression symptoms after controlling for covariates. Prior history of assault and serum cortisol also interacted to predict the intercept and slope of PTSD and depression symptoms such that women with a prior history of assault and lower ER cortisol had higher initial symptoms that decreased at a slower rate relative to women without a prior history and those with higher ER cortisol. Conclusions Prior history of assault was associated with diminished acute cortisol responsivity at the emergency room visit. Prior assault history and cortisol both independently and interactively predicted PTSD and depression symptoms at first follow-up and over the course a six-month follow-up.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortisol at the emergency room rape visit as a predictor of PTSD and depression symptoms over time

Walsh

Nugent

Kotte

et al. 2013

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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“…Further studies found evidence that ongoing traumatic stressors such as family violence were correlated with reduced startle reactivity in adult women (Medina, Mejia, Schell, Dawson, & Margolin, ). Other authors argued that these subjects show functionally appropriate behavior associated with a different psychophysiology (Gola et al., ; Lang, Davis, & Öhman, ; Lang, McTeague, & Cuthbert, ). Thus, although there is strong evidence for cardiac hyperreactivity in PTSD, a significant number of studies also shows an opposite hyporeactivity.…”

Section: Cardiac Defense and The Autonomic Nervous Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cardiac defense in response to imminent threat in women with multiple trauma and severe PTSD

2013

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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arises as a long-term result of exposure to trauma and brings with it an altered autonomic response to potentially threatening stimuli. The present study investigates the dynamic sequence of cardiac defense in women with and without PTSD. An acoustic noise of 0.5-s duration and 105 dB was used to elicit the cardiac defense reaction. The stimulus was repeated three times. Within the PTSD sample, respondents who suffered from more severe PTSD showed a higher heart rate at rest, a higher baseline, and a greater response. Compared to the healthy subjects, the PTSD group showed an elevated heart rate from 6 s to 25 s following the presentation of the first stimulus. There was evidence of habituation in the PTSD group and hints of differential effects on the cardiac defense of traumatic experiences with a high proximity of danger.

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“…The most commonly used stress biomarker is cortisol [6][7]. To date, much of the research that has utilized cortisol levels to evaluate wartime stress has focused on either acute battle-related stress and soldiers' experiences [8][9], or on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in severely traumatized victims [10][11][12][13]. Less research has been conducted on the use of cortisol levels to assess the stress of war in people who were non-combatants and those who were not directly victimized.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hair Cortisol as a Biomarker of Stress in the 2011 Libyan War

Etwel¹,

Russell²,

Rieder³

et al. 2014

CIM

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Purpose: There is a substantial body of research that utilizes saliva cortisol levels to examine wartime stress; however, there is a paucity of literature that utilizes hair cortisol levels, which allows for long-term assessment of chronic stress, to investigate the stress of war. The present study aimed to evaluate changes in hair cortisol concentrations before, during, and after the 2011 Libyan war.Methods: This study examined hair cortisol concentrations of young adult women who were living in Tripoli, Libya during the 2011 war. The participants were recruited at the campus of Tripoli University. Participants needed to have at least 24 cm of hair and to have resided in Tripoli before, during and after the 2011 Libyan war. Hair was sectioned to reflect 3 month windows of cortisol exposure corresponding to periods before, during and after the war. Hair cortisol concentrations were quantified using a modified salivary ELISA test. The women were also asked to complete the Perceived Stress Scale pertaining to the post-war period.Results: Median hair cortisol concentrations in the post-war period (226.11 ng/g; range 122.95-519.85 ng/g) were significantly higher than both the pre-war (180.07 ng/g; 47.13-937.85 ng/g) and wartime (186.65 ng/g; 62.97-771.79 ng/g) periods (P<0.05). The mean PSS score (24) was in the range of "much higher than the mean" for this test and the vast majority of participants were either in the "much higher than the mean" or "slightly higher than the mean" ranges. Hair cortisol determination suggests that in Tripoli, the post-war period appears to have been more stressful than the war itself. This is consistent with the fact that during the war the civilian participants were not directly involved with warfare, nor were they targeted by the international coalition fighting Gaddafi. In contrast, the post-war period was characterized by chaos and total lack of authority, with the participants exposed to injury, lack of food and destruction.Conclusion: This study documents the utility of hair cortisol levels to retrospectively assess stress before, during, and after an armed conflict.

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Victims of rape show increased cortisol responses to trauma reminders: A study in individuals with war- and torture-related PTSD

Cited by 52 publications

References 41 publications

Cortisol at the emergency room rape visit as a predictor of PTSD and depression symptoms over time

Cortisol at the emergency room rape visit as a predictor of PTSD and depression symptoms over time

Cardiac defense in response to imminent threat in women with multiple trauma and severe PTSD

Hair Cortisol as a Biomarker of Stress in the 2011 Libyan War

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