Two-year course of non-suicidal self-injury in an adolescent clinical cohort: The role of childhood adversity in interaction with cortisol secretion.

Autor: Reichl C; University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland., Schär S; University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland., Lerch S; University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland., Hedinger N; University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland., Brunner R; Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Germany., Koenig J; Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Germany., Kaess M; University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Switzerland; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: michael.kaess@upd.ch.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Psychoneuroendocrinology [Psychoneuroendocrinology] 2024 Sep; Vol. 167, pp. 107093. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jun 06.
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107093
Abstrakt: Aim: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a highly prevalent phenomenon during adolescence. Nonetheless, research on predictors of the clinical course of NSSI over time is still scarce. The present study aimed at investigating the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning on the longitudinal course of NSSI.
Methods: In a sample of n = 51 help-seeking adolescents engaging in NSSI, diurnal cortisol secretion (CAR, cortisol awakening response; DSL, diurnal slope), hair cortisol concentrations and ACE were assessed at baseline. Clinical outcome was defined by change in the frequency of NSSI in the past 6 months measured 12 and 24 months after the baseline assessments. Mixed-effects linear regression models were used to test for effects of ACE and HPA axis functioning on the course of NSSI.
Results: ACE and HPA axis functioning did not show main but interaction effects in the prediction of NSSI frequency over time: Adolescents with a low severity of ACE and either an increased CAR or a flattened DSL showed a steep decline of NSSI frequency in the first year followed by a subsequent increase of NSSI frequency in the second year.
Conclusions: Our findings could be interpreted in the sense of high diurnal cortisol concentrations in the absence of ACE being favorable for clinical improvement on the short-term but bearing a risk of allostatic load and subsequent increase of NSSI frequency. In contrast, adolescents with severe ACE may benefit from elevated cortisol concentrations leading to slower but lasting decreases of NSSI frequency.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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