Table 1. Summary of Meta-Analytic Findings across Studies and Cortisol Outcomes for TE, PTSD, and PTSD+MDD Groups versus NTC.

Cortisol Outcomes	d	k	SE	95% CI	p	Q	p	I2
Morning (a.m.)
TE	.01	18	.03	−.05, +.07	.780	35.98	.005	53
PTSD	−.28	23	.08	−.43, −.13	< .001	58. 96	< .001	6 3
PTSD+MDD	−.66	8	.14	−.94, −.39	< .001	42.18	< .001	83
Afternoon/Evening (p.m.)
TE	−.25	10	.09	−.44, −.07	.007	31.36	<.001	71
PTSD	−.27	12	.12	−.50, −.04	.021	110.00	< .001	90
PTSD+MDD	.49	4	.24	+.02, +.96	.041	15.93	< .001	81
Daily output
TE	−.13	6	.15	−.42, +.15	.370	22.08	<.001	73
PTSD	−.36	9	.13	−.62, −.10	.008	84.68	< .001	91
PTSD+MDD	−.65	4	.25	−1.13, −.17	.008	23.39	< .001	87
Post-DST
TE	−.53	8	.14	−.80, −.25	<.001	11.49	.119	39
PTSD	−.40	13	.12	−.63, −.17	<.001	89.75	< .001	87
PTSD+MDD	−.65	8	.14	−.93, −.38	< .001	39.80	< .001	82

Notes. PTSD = Post traumatic Stress Disorder; MDD = Major Depressive Disorder; TE = trauma-exposed without PTSD or MDD; NTC = never-traumatized controls; a.m. = morning (before 12 p.m.); p.m. = afternoon (after 12 p.m.); DST = dexamethasone suppression test; d = effect size; k = number of studies; SE = standard error; CI = confidence interval; Q = heterogeneity coefficient; I² = percentage of total variation across studies due to heterogeneity