The Association of Cortisol Stress Response with Early Adversity and Diabetes Control in Adolescents with Diabetes

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been implicated in the relationship between increased stress and poor diabetes control in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) To evaluate the effectiveness of the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) in inducing psychosocial stress in children with T1DM; (2) To investigate predictors of the cortisol stress response to the TSST-C. 1.2 METHODS: Seventeen adolescents with T1DM were exposed to the TSST-C. Salivary cortisol was sampled pre-TSST-C and at six 10-minute intervals following the stress procedure. Measures of anxiety, depression, family functioning and early adversity were completed. RESULTS: The TSST-C induced a significant increase in cortisol response (p