Figure 2.

Associations between different types of cumulative lifetime stress exposure and participants’ (A) cortisol responses and (B) DHEA responses to acute stress. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals; as such, if a bar does not cross zero, it indicates that the coefficient is significant. Associations between cumulative stress exposure and individuals’ cortisol responses were similar across different types of lifetime stress exposure assessed, with the strongest effects being evident for adulthood and marital/partner stressors. In contrast, the effects of cumulative life stress exposure on DHEA responses differed more greatly across the different stressor categories; unlike cortisol, however, most of the stress exposure categories were significantly related to DHEA responses.