Loading...
Post-traumatic stress disorder is often associated with low production of cortisol. This study examined cortisol levels in children with at least one parent with PTSD.
Researchers made repeated cortisol determinations over the course of 1 day among adult children of Holocaust survivors (23 with parental PTSD and 10 without parental PTSD) as well as 16 age-matched individuals from the same Jewish community whose parents had not been directly exposed to the events of the Holocaust or other traumatic events.
Mood and anxiety disorders were reported in about half of Holocaust survivor offspring versus about 20% of controls and children of survivors without PTSD. Plasma cortisol levels were significantly lower at several times over the 24-hour cyc…