Individuals with melancholic major depression exhibit basal
hypercortisolism and an attenuated ACTH response to exogenous
corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) infusion. Given the greater
incidence of depression in children of depressed parents, we examined the
ACTH and cortisol responses to ovine CRH (oCRH) infusion in 63 adolescent
offspring of mothers with major depression, bipolar illness, or no
psychiatric illness. Psychiatric and observational assessments of these
families had been conducted over the course of 10 years preceding this
study. We examined the children's responses to CRH in relation to
maternal characteristics and family environment and found the following:
(a) cortisol responses were negatively related to chronic family stress
and (b) offspring of depressed mothers with an avoidant personality
disorder showed an exaggerated ACTH response. In addition, adolescents in
late puberty (Tanner 4 and 5) had lower ACTH and cortisol responses to
oCRH infusion than those in early puberty. Further, offspring with early
histories of mood problems, and those who developed major depressive
disorder as young adults, did not exhibit basal hypercortisolism but did
show an attenuated ACTH response to CRH. Our results add to the growing
body of literature showing the influence of maternal characteristics and
environmental factors on hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis
patterns in children.We acknowledge the
efforts of our predecessors on this project, whose work made this study
possible. In addition, we thank Ann Mayfield, Sara Torvik, and Patricia
Kasdan for their recruitment efforts and Sue Harris and Hayley Kleitz for
their editorial comments on the manuscript. Finally, we thank all of the
mothers and their children who have dedicated their time to this study
over the course of 20 years.