Hair cortisol, allostatic load, and depressive symptoms in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Hair cortisol, allostatic load, and depressive symptoms in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Stress. 2019 Mar 05;:1-9 Authors: Berger M, Taylor S, Harriss L, Campbell S, Thompson F, Jones S, Sushames A, Amminger GP, Sarnyai Z, McDermott R Abstract Chronic stress and adversity are associated with poor mental health and are thought to contribute to the existing mental health gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians. Hair cortisol and allostatic load (AL) are indices of sustained stress and may be mediators of the effects of stress on health. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between hair cortisol, AL, and depressive symptoms. This cross-sectional study comprised 329 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents and adults recruited at two health screening programs operating in three communities in north Queensland. We measured hair cortisol and calculated an AL index from 10 biomarkers. We assessed depressive symptoms with a version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 adapted for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (aPHQ-9). We found differences in cortisol and AL between the screening programs and communities, which were not explained by depressive symptoms. Overall aPHQ-9 scores were unrelated to hair cortisol (p = .25 and p = .94) and AL (p = .30 and p = .88) when age, gender and smoking were taken into account. However, a...
Source: Stress - Category: Research Tags: Stress Source Type: research