SAFETYLIT WEEKLY UPDATE

We compile citations and summaries of about 400 new articles every week.
RSS Feed

HELP: Tutorials | FAQ
CONTACT US: Contact info

Search Results

Journal Article

Citation

Shaheen M, Schindler L, Saar-Ashkenazy R, Bani Odeh K, Soreq H, Friedman A, Kirschbaum C. Psychophysiology 2020; 57: e13271.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Society for Psychophysiological Research, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/psyp.13271

PMID

30101980

Abstract

Violent conflicts are severe traumatic stressors with detrimental effects on physical and mental health, with children and adolescents being particularly at risk. For the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, characteristic patterns of dysregulation in trauma-exposed individuals have been shown. This study set out to investigate self-reported mental well-being in Palestinian adolescents growing up during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) as a psychoendocrine marker for long-term HPA axis aberrations along with the potential protective factor sense of coherence (SoC; i.e., the global mindset to interpret the world and emerging stressors as comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful) were examined. Between 2014 and 2016, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, HCC, and SoC were examined in 233 adolescents aged 11 to 16 from the West Bank. More than half of the participants reported trauma exposure, with 40% fulfilling the criteria of a preliminary PTSD diagnosis and a high prevalence of anxiety and depression. HCC was significantly elevated in the PTSD subgroup compared to the subgroup not exposed to any traumatic events (p = 0.046), with trauma-exposed individuals in between. HCC was further associated with typical sequelae of traumatic stress. Notably, SoC was inversely related to self-reported psychopathology, as well as to HCC in the trauma group. The results illustrate the situation of adolescents exposed to chronic traumatic stress and extend the literature on aberrant HPA axis functioning under such conditions. They also point out a central role of SoC, which may imply new strategies to aid individuals exposed to ongoing conflicts.

© 2018 Society for Psychophysiological Research.


Language: en

Keywords

cortisol; hair; posttraumatic stress disorder; traumatic stress; violent conflict

NEW SEARCH


All SafetyLit records are available for automatic download to Zotero & Mendeley
Print