Hair cortisol and childhood trauma predict psychological therapy response in depression and anxiety disorders

Around 30-50% of patients with depression and anxiety disorders fail to respond to standard psychological therapy. Given that cortisol affects cognition, patients with altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning may benefit less from such treatments. To investigate this, reliable pretreatment cortisol measures are needed.

N = 89 outpatients with depression and anxiety disorders were recruited before undergoing therapy within an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service. Three-month hair cortisol was determined, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was administered. Patients were classified as responders if they showed significant decreases in depression (>= 6 points on the Patient Health Questionnaire) or anxiety (>= 5 points on the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale).

Non-responders in terms of depression (57%) had lower pretreatment hair cortisol concentrations (P = 0.041) and reported more physical abuse (P = 0.024), sexual abuse (P = 0.010) and total trauma (P = 0.039) when compared to responders. Non-responders in terms of anxiety (48%) had lower pretreatment hair cortisol (P = 0.027), as well as higher levels of emotional abuse (P = 0.034), physical abuse (P = 0.042) and total trauma (P = 0.048).

If future research confirms hair cortisol to be a predictor of psychological therapy response, this may prove a useful clinical biomarker which identifies a subgroup requiring more intensive treatment.