Daily cortisol, stress reactivity and psychotic experiences in individuals at above average genetic risk for psychosis

BackgroundHypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis abnormalities have been found in patients with a psychotic disorder and first-degree relatives of patients with a psychotic disorder react with subtle increases in non-clinical psychotic experiences and negative emotions in the face of everyday stress. The current study investigated whether HPA axis functioning is altered in individuals at above average genetic risk for psychotic disorder, examining diurnal cortisol profiles, cortisol reactivity to daily stressors and the association between HPA axis activity and subclinical psychotic experiences.MethodParticipants included siblings of patients with a psychotic disorder (n=60) and a healthy comparison group (n=63). The Experience Sampling Method (a structured diary technique) was employed to assess stress, psychotic experiences, negative affect and salivary cortisol repeatedly in the flow of daily life.ResultsMulti-level analyses revealed higher diurnal cortisol levels and heightened cortisol reactivity to negative daily events in siblings compared with controls. Diurnal cortisol slope did not differ between the two groups, but momentary increases in psychotic experiences and negative affect were associated with increased cortisol in the sibling group.ConclusionsFindings support altered HPA axis activity in individuals at above average genetic risk for psychotic disorder, as evidenced by higher diurnal cortisol levels and increased cortisol reactivity to daily stress. Results also suggest a dynamic association between cortisol secretion and the intensity of psychotic-like experiences and negative emotions in daily life, although the direction of this association remains to be elucidated.

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Genetic risk of depression and stress-induced negative affect in daily life

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.106.032201 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 191 (3) ◽

pp. 218-223 ◽

Cited By ~ 106

Author(s):

Marieke Wichers ◽

Inez Myin-Germeys ◽

Nele Jacobs ◽

Frenk Peeters ◽

Gunter Kenis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Genetic Risk ◽

Daily Life ◽

Monozygotic Twins ◽

Dizygotic Twins ◽

Dsm Iv ◽

Current Mood ◽

Minor Stressors ◽

Related Stress ◽

Trait Associations

BackgroundA bias to develop negative affect in response to daily life stressors may be an important depression endophenotype, but remains difficult to assess.AimsTo assess this mood bias endophenotype, uncontaminated by current mood, in the course of daily life.MethodThe experience samping method was used to collect multiple appraisals of daily life event-related stress and negative affect in 279 female twin pairs. Cross-twin, cross-trait associations between daily life mood bias and DSM – IV depression were conducted.ResultsProbands whose co-twins were diagnosed with lifetime depression showed a stronger mood bias to stress than those with co-twins without such a diagnosis, independent of probands' current depressive symptoms and to a greater extent in monozygotic twins than in dizygotic twins.ConclusionsGenetic liability to depression is in part expressed as the tendency to display negative affect in response to minor stressors in daily life. This trait may represent a true depression endophenotype.

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Featured Article: Community Crime Exposure and Risk for Obesity in Preschool Children: Moderation by the Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal-Axis Response

Journal of Pediatric Psychology ◽

10.1093/jpepsy/jsx116 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 43 (4) ◽

pp. 353-365 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Maria A Gartstein ◽

Erich Seamon ◽

Stephanie F Thompson ◽

Liliana J Lengua

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Hpa Axis ◽

Cumulative Risk ◽

Unique Contribution ◽

Neighborhood Crime ◽

Diurnal Cortisol ◽

Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal ◽

Preschool Period ◽

Child Bmi ◽

Hpa Axis Activity

Abstract Objective Identification of early risk factors related to obesity is critical to preventative public health efforts. In this study, we investigated links between the Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal (HPA)-axis activity (diurnal cortisol pattern), geospatially operationalized exposure to neighborhood crime, and body mass index (BMI) for a sample of 5-year-old children. Greater community crime exposure and lower HPA-axis activity were hypothesized to contribute to higher BMI, with child HPA-axis moderating the association between crime exposure and BMI. Method Families residing within the boundaries of the City of Seattle (N = 114) provided information concerning demographic/psychosocial risk factors, used to calculate a Cumulative Risk Index, indicating the number of contextual adversities present. Child BMI and diurnal cortisol pattern (derived from assays of saliva samples) were examined, along with neighborhood crime indices computed with publically available information, based on participants’ locations. Results Hierarchical multiple regression analyses, adjusted for covariates (cumulative risk, age, and sex), indicated that crime proximity made a unique contribution to child BMI, in the direction signaling an increase in the risk for obesity. Consistent with our hypothesis, a significant interaction was observed, indicative of moderation by diurnal cortisol pattern. Follow-up simple slope analyses demonstrated that crime exposure was significantly related to higher BMI for children with low-flat (blunted) diurnal cortisol patterns, where community crime and BMI were not significantly associated at higher levels of cortisol. Conclusion Community crime exposure contributes to higher BMI as early as the preschool period, and blunted diurnal cortisol patterns may place children experiencing neighborhood adversity at greater risk for obesity.

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Effects of childhood trauma on cortisol levels in suicide attempters and ideators

10.31234/osf.io/ctgnq ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Daryl Brian O'Connor ◽

Jessica Green ◽

Eamonn Ferguson ◽

Ronan O' Carroll ◽

Rory O' Connor

Keyword(s):

Childhood Trauma ◽

Hpa Axis ◽

Psychological Intervention ◽

Cortisol Reactivity ◽

Suicide Attempters ◽

Global Health Issue ◽

History Of ◽

Cortisol Levels ◽

Laboratory Stress ◽

Hpa Axis Activity

Objectives: Suicide is a global health issue. Dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, asmeasured by cortisol levels, has been identified as one potential risk factor for suicide. Recent evidence hasindicated that blunted cortisol reactivity to stress is associated with suicidal behavior. The current study investigatedwhether childhood trauma was associated with blunted cortisol reactivity to a laboratory stressor andresting cortisol levels in suicide attempters and ideators.Methods: 160 Participants were recruited and grouped according to history of previous suicidal attempt, suicidalideation or as control participants. Participants completed background questionnaires, including the ChildhoodTrauma Questionnaire, before completing a laboratory stress task. Cortisol levels were assessed at rest andduring the stress task.Results: The highest levels of childhood trauma were reported in those who had attempted suicide (78.7%),followed by those who thought about suicide (37.7%) and then those with no suicidal history (17.8%).Moreover, regression analyses showed that childhood trauma was a significant predictor of blunted cortisolreactivity to stress and resting cortisol levels, such that higher levels of trauma were associated with lowercortisol levels in those with a suicidal history. Family history of suicide did not interact with the effects ofchildhood trauma on cortisol levels.Conclusions: These results indicate that childhood trauma is associated with blunted HPA axis activity in vulnerablepopulations in adulthood. The challenge for researchers is to elucidate the precise causal mechanismslinking trauma, cortisol and suicide risk and to investigate whether the effects of childhood trauma on cortisollevels are amendable to psychological intervention.

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Is theory of mind a prerequisite for social interactions? A study in psychotic disorder

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291719000540 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (5) ◽

pp. 754-760 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Maude Schneider ◽

Erik Myin ◽

Inez Myin-Germeys

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Social Interactions ◽

Social Functioning ◽

Psychotic Disorder ◽

Genetic Risk ◽

Sampling Method ◽

Daily Life ◽

Healthy Individuals ◽

Is Theory

AbstractBackgroundA dominant idea is that impaired capacities for theory of mind (ToM) are the reasons for impairments in social functioning in several conditions, including autism and schizophrenia. In this paper, we present empirical evidence that challenges this influential assumption.MethodsWe conducted three studies examining the association between ToM and social functioning in participants diagnosed with a non-affective psychotic disorder and healthy individuals. We used both the experience sampling method, a structured diary technique collecting information in daily-life, and a standardised questionnaire to assess social functioning. Analysed data are part of Wave 1 and Wave 3 of the Genetic Risk and Outcome of Psychosis (GROUP) study.ResultsResults were highly consistent across studies and showed no significant association between the two constructs.ConclusionsThese findings question the leading assumption that social cognition is a prerequisite for social functioning, but rather suggest that social cognition is possibly a result of basic social interactive capacities.

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Psychological processes underlying the association between childhood trauma and psychosis in daily life: an experience sampling study

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s003329171600146x ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 46 (13) ◽

pp. 2799-2813 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

U. Reininghaus ◽

C. Gayer-Anderson ◽

L. Valmaggia ◽

M. J. Kempton ◽

M. Calem ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Environmental Stress ◽

Childhood Abuse ◽

Childhood Trauma ◽

Daily Life ◽

Experience Sampling ◽

First Episode ◽

Psychological Processes ◽

Psychotic Experiences

BackgroundEvidence has accumulated that implicates childhood trauma in the aetiology of psychosis, but our understanding of the putative psychological processes and mechanisms through which childhood trauma impacts on individuals and contributes to the development of psychosis remains limited. We aimed to investigate whether stress sensitivity and threat anticipation underlie the association between childhood abuse and psychosis.MethodWe used the Experience Sampling Method to measure stress, threat anticipation, negative affect, and psychotic experiences in 50 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, 44 At-Risk Mental State (ARMS) participants, and 52 controls. Childhood abuse was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.ResultsAssociations of minor socio-environmental stress in daily life with negative affect and psychotic experiences were modified by sexual abuse and group (all pFWE < 0.05). While there was strong evidence that these associations were greater in FEP exposed to high levels of sexual abuse, and some evidence of greater associations in ARMS exposed to high levels of sexual abuse, controls exposed to high levels of sexual abuse were more resilient and reported less intense negative emotional reactions to socio-environmental stress. A similar pattern was evident for threat anticipation.ConclusionsElevated sensitivity and lack of resilience to socio-environmental stress and enhanced threat anticipation in daily life may be important psychological processes underlying the association between childhood sexual abuse and psychosis.

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Pituitary volume, stress reactivity and genetic risk for psychotic disorder

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291711002728 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 42 (7) ◽

pp. 1523-1533 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

P. Habets ◽

D. Collip ◽

I. Myin-Germeys ◽

E. Gronenschild ◽

S. van Bronswijk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychotic Disorder ◽

Emotional Stress ◽

Life Stress ◽

Stress Reactivity ◽

Daily Life ◽

Real Life ◽

Cortisol Reactivity ◽

Biological Stress ◽

Mri Scans ◽

Volume Stress

BackgroundHypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis hyperactivity, associated with increased pituitary volume, may mediate observed alterations in stress reactivity in patients with psychotic disorder. We examined the association between pituitary volume, real-life stress reactivity and genetic liability for psychotic disorder.MethodPituitary volumes were derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 20 patients with psychotic disorder, 37 non-psychotic siblings of these patients, and 32 controls. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) was used to measure emotional stress reactivity [changes in negative affect (NA) associated with daily life stress] in the three groups, and biological stress reactivity (changes in cortisol associated with daily life stress) in siblings and controls. Interactions between group, stress and pituitary volume in models of NA and cortisol were examined.ResultsGroups did not differ in pituitary volume. Patients showed significantly higher emotional stress reactivity than siblings and controls. In addition, emotional stress reactivity increased with increasing pituitary volume to a greater degree in patients than in controls and siblings. Siblings had higher cortisol levels than controls but did not show increased cortisol reactivity to stress. There was no interaction between pituitary volume, stress and group in the model of cortisol.ConclusionsHigher pituitary volume was associated with increased emotional stress reactivity in patients with psychotic disorder, siblings and controls. The association was significantly stronger in the patient group, suggesting a process of progressive sensitization mediating clinical outcome.

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