Citation

Haviland MG, Sonne JL, Anderson DL, Nelson JC, Sheridan-Matney C, Nichols JG, Carlton EI, Murdoch WG. Child Abuse Negl. 2006; 30(6): 589-598.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, 11374 Mountain View Avenue, Loma Linda, CA 92354-3842, USA.

Comment In:

Child Abuse Negl 2006;30(6):585-8

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2005.11.011

PMID

16781773

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationships between psychological symptoms and thyroid hormone levels in adolescent girls who had experienced the traumatic stress of sexual abuse. METHOD: The study design was cross-sectional/correlational. Subjects (N=22; age range=12-18 years) had their blood drawn, and they completed 2 psychological tests (depression and general distress/posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD). A pediatrician completed a sexual abuse questionnaire after reviewing law enforcement and Child Protective Services reports and conducting forensic interviews and medical examinations. RESULTS: Girls' average free T4, total T4, free T3, total T3, and TSH levels were within age-specific laboratory reference range limits, as were most individual concentrations. The strongest correlations (p<.05) were between free T3 and PTSD total score (-.50), PTSD-avoidance/numbing (-.49), and general distress (-.48); and between total T3 and depression (-.46), general distress (-.45), and PTSD-arousal (-.44). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support one of the two contemporary models of the relationships between thyroid hormones (i.e., free and total T3) and psychological symptoms (i.e., depression, general distress, and PTSD)--one of "shutting down" (vs. "activation") in the face of trauma.

Language: en