TY - JOUR
T1 - Prospective prediction of major depressive disorder from cortisol awakening responses in adolescence
AU - Adam, Emma K.
AU - Doane, Leah D.
AU - Zinbarg, Richard E.
AU - Mineka, Susan
AU - Craske, Michelle G.
AU - Griffith, James W.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was conducted with the support of NIMH 1 R01 MH65651-01 (M.G.C. Principal Investigator) and NIHM R01 MH65652 (R.E.Z., S.M. Principal Investigators), a William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Award to the primary author (E.K.A.), and a Faculty Fellowship (E.K.A) and Graduate Fellowship (L.D.D.) from the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. These granting agencies had no further role in the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, in the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit the article for publication.
PY - 2010/7
Y1 - 2010/7
N2 - Levels of the stress-sensitive hormone cortisol increase dramatically in the first 30-40. min after waking, an effect known as the cortisol awakening response (CAR). There is considerable cross-sectional evidence that psychosocial stress is associated with an increased CAR, and the CAR has been found to be altered in the presence of stress-related diseases, including major depressive disorder (MDD). To date, no prospective longitudinal studies have examined whether individual differences in the CAR serve as a premorbid risk factor for MDD. In a sample of 230 late adolescents, clinical diagnoses of MDD were predicted from the CAR as well as other indicators of basal cortisol functioning gathered 1 year earlier, including: waking cortisol levels, bedtime cortisol levels, the size of the CAR, average cortisol, and the slope of the diurnal cortisol rhythm across the waking day. Age and gender, health and health behaviors, baseline neuroticism, exposure to stressful life events and past episodes of mood and anxiety disorders were included as covariates, to help ensure effects are attributable to the CAR rather than related variables. A higher baseline CAR was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing MDD by follow-up, even when excluding individuals with baseline MDD. No other baseline cortisol measures were significant prospective predictors of MDD. In summary, the CAR is a significant prospective risk factor for the development of MDD in young adults, providing some support for the possibility that a heightened CAR may play a role in the etiology of major depressive disorder.
AB - Levels of the stress-sensitive hormone cortisol increase dramatically in the first 30-40. min after waking, an effect known as the cortisol awakening response (CAR). There is considerable cross-sectional evidence that psychosocial stress is associated with an increased CAR, and the CAR has been found to be altered in the presence of stress-related diseases, including major depressive disorder (MDD). To date, no prospective longitudinal studies have examined whether individual differences in the CAR serve as a premorbid risk factor for MDD. In a sample of 230 late adolescents, clinical diagnoses of MDD were predicted from the CAR as well as other indicators of basal cortisol functioning gathered 1 year earlier, including: waking cortisol levels, bedtime cortisol levels, the size of the CAR, average cortisol, and the slope of the diurnal cortisol rhythm across the waking day. Age and gender, health and health behaviors, baseline neuroticism, exposure to stressful life events and past episodes of mood and anxiety disorders were included as covariates, to help ensure effects are attributable to the CAR rather than related variables. A higher baseline CAR was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing MDD by follow-up, even when excluding individuals with baseline MDD. No other baseline cortisol measures were significant prospective predictors of MDD. In summary, the CAR is a significant prospective risk factor for the development of MDD in young adults, providing some support for the possibility that a heightened CAR may play a role in the etiology of major depressive disorder.
KW - Cortisol awakening response
KW - Diurnal cortisol rhythms
KW - Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis
KW - Life events
KW - Major depressive disorder
KW - Prospective
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77949393613&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77949393613&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.12.007
DO - 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.12.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 20079576
AN - SCOPUS:77949393613
SN - 0306-4530
VL - 35
SP - 921
EP - 931
JO - Psychoneuroendocrinology
JF - Psychoneuroendocrinology
IS - 6
ER -