TY - JOUR PY - 2008// TI - Dissociation versus posttraumatic stress: cortisol and physiological correlates in adults highly exposed to the World Trade Center attack on 9/11 JO - Psychiatry research A1 - Simeon, D. A1 - Yehuda, Rachel A1 - Knutelska, Margaret A1 - Schmeidler, J. SP - 325 EP - 329 VL - 161 IS - 3 N2 - Nine months on average after the World Trade Center (WTC) attack, 21 highly exposed adults and 10 healthy controls without major exposure did not differ in cortisol and physiologic measures. Dissociation and posttraumatic stress symptoms were quantified in the exposed group. Dissociation was associated with greater peritraumatic dissociation and, marginally, childhood trauma, lower plasma cortisol levels at 08.00h, and blunted heart rate reactivity to psychosocial stress. Posttraumatic stress was associated with exposure, peritraumatic distress, and early posttraumatic stress, and marginally associated with peritraumatic dissociation; it was not associated with cortisol or physiologic measures. Urinary cortisol differed significantly in its relationship to dissociation versus posttraumatic stress. This small study emphasizes the importance of dissecting the neurobiology of posttraumatic stress versus dissociative traumatic responses.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0165-1781 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2008.04.021 ID - ref1 ER -