Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Salivary cortisol hypersecretion in juvenile depression.

D M Foreman1, I M Goodyer

  • 1Department of Postgraduate Medicine, University of Keele, U.K.

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines
|May 1, 1988
PubMed
Summary

Salivary cortisol levels are elevated in depressed children and adolescents. This study suggests salivary cortisol testing may help identify depression in young patients.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Distinct alterations in probabilistic reversal learning across at-risk mental state, first episode psychosis and persistent schizophrenia.

Scientific reports·2024
Same author

The interplay between adolescent friendship quality and resilient functioning following childhood and adolescent adversity.

Adversity and resilience science·2023
Same author

Publisher Correction: Brain charts for the human lifespan.

Nature·2022
Same author

Brain charts for the human lifespan.

Nature·2022
Same author

Embracing the positive: an examination of how well resilience factors at age 14 can predict distress at age 17.

Translational psychiatry·2020
Same author

Cognitive behavioral therapy may have a rehabilitative, not normalizing, effect on functional connectivity in adolescent depression.

Journal of affective disorders·2020

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Biomarker Research

Background:

  • Salivary cortisol is a potential biomarker for stress and depression.
  • Previous research on salivary cortisol in pediatric depression is limited.
  • Understanding cortisol dysregulation is crucial for pediatric mental health.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate salivary cortisol levels in depressed children and adolescents.
  • To compare salivary cortisol in depressed youth versus a control group.
  • To assess the utility of salivary cortisol as a diagnostic marker for pediatric depression.

Main Methods:

  • Compared salivary cortisol in 30 depressed inpatients (aged 7-16) with 16 controls.
  • Collected four salivary cortisol samples over 48 hours, including post-dexamethasone suppression.
  • Utilized a dexamethasone suppression test to evaluate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Main Results:

  • Depressed youth exhibited significantly higher salivary cortisol levels at most time points (P < 0.03).
  • A 4 pm salivary cortisol cutoff of 4 nmol/l showed 48% sensitivity and 91% specificity.
  • The dexamethasone suppression test revealed altered cortisol patterns in the depressed group.

Conclusions:

  • Salivary cortisol measurement is a promising, non-invasive method for assessing hypercortisolism in pediatric depression.
  • The findings support further research into salivary cortisol assays for diagnosing depression in children and adolescents.
  • Altered HPA axis activity, indicated by salivary cortisol, is associated with depression in youth.

Related Experiment Videos