Childhood maltreatment, pituitary volume and adolescent hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis – Evidence for a maltreatment-related attenuation

Abstract

Background: Alterations of the development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) have been suggested to be related to experiences of early maltreatment. It has been postulated that early stress (i.e., maltreatment) leads to initial hyperactivation of the HPAA, which subsequently may progress to hypoactivation during the course of adolescence, however empirical studies on this hypothesis are rare. In the current study, we aimed to examine the longitudinal relationships between childhood maltreatment, early adolescent pituitary gland volume (PGV) and mid-adolescent cortisol output in an existing data set to explore the utility of PGV as a measure of HPAA function, and as an indirec..