Citation

Muller D, Errington S, Szabo CP, Pitts N, Jacklin L. J. Child Adolesc. Trauma 2014; 7(3): 185-191.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s40653-014-0019-7

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since adults with histories of sexual abuse as children experience both dysregulation of cortisol and increased inflammatory markers, we hypothesized that plasma cortisol dysregulation and increased plasma IL-6 would be detectable at the first presentation of pre-pubertal girls to a sexual abuse clinic. Following the stressful forensic examination, the 11 patients recruited to the study had significantly different cortisol concentrations (p < 0.0075), depending on whether they resided with family (309 ± 101 nmol/l) or in a children's home (157 ± 38 nmol/l). IL-6 was detected in all patients residing in a children's home, with plasma cortisol and IL-6 being inversely correlated (r = −0.8875). Our study demonstrates an association between decreased cortisol secretion, inflammation, and place of residence in sexually abused girls.

Language: en