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Salivary Cortisol Response to a Psychosocial Stressor on Children Diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Differences Between Diagnostic Subtypes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Enrique F. Maldonado ,
Mª Victoria Trianes ,
Antonio Cortés ,
Encarnación Moreno  and
Milagros Escobar
Enrique F. Maldonado*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Málaga (Spain)
Mª Victoria Trianes
Affiliation:
Universidad de Málaga (Spain)
Antonio Cortés
Affiliation:
Universidad de Málaga (Spain)
Encarnación Moreno
Affiliation:
Universidad de Málaga (Spain)
Milagros Escobar
Affiliation:
Universidad de Málaga (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Enrique F. Maldonado. Department of Psychobiology. University of Malaga. Campus Teatinos, C.P. 29071 Malaga (Spain). Phone: +34-952133476. Fax: +34-952132621. E-mail: fcomm@uma.es
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Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to compare the reactivity of the HPA-axis in children diagnosed with different subtypes of ADHD against a healthy control group. This study included a total of 66 children: 33 children with ADHD diagnoses (10 with prevalent inattentive symptoms, 9 with prevalent hyperactive-impulsive symptoms and 14 with the combined subtype) and 33 healthy controls. The Trier Stress Social Test for Children (TSST-C) was employed as stressor. This test included two main stressors: first, completing a story initiated by an interviewer, and second, executing a timed cognitive task. Saliva samples were then obtained at -1, and +1, +10, +20 and +30 minutes with respect to the stressinducing task. While the repeated-measures ANOVA showed a statistically significant time effect, the expected cortisol stress-response was not observed in any group. A difference was observed in the response from the hyperactive-impulsive group that was also observed in the AUCG comparisons with the subgroups. The ADHD group with prevalent hyperactivity-impulsive symptoms showed more significantly reduced cortisol levels than the control group and other experimental subgroup with prevalent inattentive symptoms.

El objetivo del presente estudio fue comparar la reactividad del eje HPA de niños diagnosticados con distintos subtipos de TDAH en comparación con un grupo de control sano. En el estudio fueron incluidos 66 niños: 33 con TDAH (10 con predominio inatento, 9 con predominio hiperactivo-impulsivo, y 14 con sintomatología combinada) y 33 controles sanos. Como estresor se utilizó el Test de Estrés Social de Trier versión infantil (TSST-C). Este test incluye dos estresores: primero, tras una fase de preparación, los niños deben concluir la narración de un cuento previamente iniciada por uno de los dos entrevistadores; y en segundo lugar, tienen que realizar una tarea cognitiva bajo presión de tiempo ante los entrevistadores. Las muestras de saliva fueron obtenidas a -1 y a +1, +10, +20 y +30 minutos después de la inducción de estrés. El ANOVA de medidas repetidas arrojó un efecto tiempo estadísticamente significativo aunque no se observó la respuesta de cortisol esperada en ninguno de los grupos. Se observó una diferencia en la respuesta del grupo de niños con subtipo hiperactivo-impulsivo que también se constató cuando se comparó su AUCG con la del resto de los grupos. El grupo TDAH con predominio hiperactivo-impulsivo mostró niveles significativamente más bajos de cortisol que el grupo control y el resto de los grupos experimentales al enfrentarse al TSST-C.

Keywords

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)cortisolTrier social stress test for children (TSST-C)childrentrastorno por déficit de atención/hiperactividadcortisoltest de estrés social de Trier versión infantilniños
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , November 2009 , pp. 707 - 714
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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