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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

A Modified Trier Social Stress Test for Vulnerable Mexican American Adolescents
Published on: July 10, 2017
The stress response in adolescents with inattentive type ADHD symptoms
William T Randazzo1, Samantha Dockray, Elizabeth J Susman
1The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. wrandazzo@hmc.psu.edu
Objective:
To investigate the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis response to a stressor in adolescents with inattentive type attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms (ADHD-I).
Method:
Salivary cortisol was measured in threshold inattentive (TI, n = 7), moderately inattentive (MI, n = 13) and no symptom (comparison) (n = 19) groups of healthy, young adolescents, based on symptom counts, prior to and after an induced social/cognitive stressor.
Results:
The TI group displayed a significant decrease in cortisol post stressor whereas both the MI and comparison groups showed an increase in cortisol.
Conclusion:
The diagnostic threshold of inattentive type ADHD shows HPA axis dysregulation whereas the more mild form does not show dysfunction.
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