Excessive hair cortisol concentration as an indicator of psychological disorders in children

Astrid Brænden; Andrea Lebena; Åshild Faresjö; Elvar Theodorsson; Marit Coldevin; Jan Stubberud; Pål Zeiner; Annika Melinder

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106363

Excessive hair cortisol concentration as an indicator of psychological disorders in children

Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2023 Nov:157:106363. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106363. Epub 2023 Aug 9.

Authors

Astrid Brænden¹, Andrea Lebena², Åshild Faresjö², Elvar Theodorsson³, Marit Coldevin⁴, Jan Stubberud⁵, Pål Zeiner⁶, Annika Melinder⁷

Affiliations

¹ Oslo University Hospital, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: asbrae@ous-hf.no.
² Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, University of Linköping, Sweden.
³ Department of Biomedical and Clinical Science, Division of Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
⁴ Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, Nic Waals Institute, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, Department of Research, Oslo, Norway; University of Oslo, Department of Psychology, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Oslo University Hospital, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo, Norway; University of Oslo, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Oslo, Norway.
⁷ Oslo University Hospital, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo, Norway; University of Oslo, Department of Psychology, Oslo, Norway.

PMID: 37573627
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106363

Abstract

Cortisol in hair is a new biomarker assessing long-term hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, which is related to emotion regulation. We compare hair cortisol concentrations (HCC), in clinically referred children with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) (n = 19), children with other types of psychological disorders (n = 48), and healthy subjects (n = 36). We also investigate the association between HCC and irritability, age, and sex. Our results show that children with DMDD or other types of psychological disorders have higher HCC than healthy subjects, p < .001, η_p² = .39. No difference between children with DMDD and those with other types of psychological disorders was found, p = .91, nor an association between HCC and irritability in the clinical sample, p = .32. We found a significant negative correlation between HCC and age in those with DMDD, r = -0.54, p < .05, but not in the normative sample, r = -0.20, p = .25. No differences in HCC between girls and boys were found in the normative sample, p = .49. Children in need of psychological treatment, including those with DMDD, seem to have dysregulated HPA-axis activity over time. Excessive accumulated cortisol concentrations in hair could be an indicator of a psychological disorder in children.

Keywords: Child; Cortisol; Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder; HPA-axis; Irritability; Stress.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders
Child
Female
Hair
Humans
Hydrocortisone*
Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System
Irritable Mood / physiology
Male
Mood Disorders*
Pituitary-Adrenal System
Stress, Psychological

Substances

Hydrocortisone