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. 2018 Aug 28;74(1):160–169. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gby097

Table 2.

Adjusted Associations of Early-Life Adversity with Cortisol Diurnal Dynamic Range and AUC; Study of Midlife in the United States

Before controlling for adult
SES and social straina
After controlling for adult
SES and social strainb
Estimate (95% CI) Estimate (95% CI)
Dynamic range (log nmol/L)
 Economic adversity (0–3) −0.039 (−0.069, −0.009)* −0.024 (−0.054, 0.007)
 Social adversity (0–3) −0.034 (−0.065, −0.003)* −0.020 (−0.052, 0.012)
 Total adversity (0–6) −0.030 (−0.049, −0.011)** −0.018 (−0.039, 0.002)#
AUC (log(nmol/L)-hr)
 Economic adversity (0–3) 0.17 (−0.23, 0.58) 0.12 (−0.30, 0.53)
 Social adversity (0–3) −0.10 (−0.52, 0.32) −0.11 (−0.54, 0.32)
 Total adversity (0–6) 0.03 (−0.23, 0.30) 0.00 (−0.27, 0.28)

Note: AUC = area under the log-cortisol curve; CI = confidence interval; SES = socioeconomic status. Associations are from results of mixed effects models with dynamic range and AUC as dependent variables (in separate models), and include a random intercept at the family level. Effect sizes are per additional adversity (on integer scale, range 0–3 or 0–6). Separate models were run for each of the three childhood adversity scores as primary predictor.

aAdjusted for age (continuous, years), gender, race/ethnicity (non-Hispanic white vs rest). Sample size: 1,696 (from 1,411 families).

bAdjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, adult family-size-adjusted income-poverty ratio (continuous), education level (high school or GED or less, some college but did not get Bachelor’s degree, versus obtained Bachelor’s degree), and adult social strain. Sample size: 1,606 (from 1,335 families).

# p < .1. *p < .05. **p < .005.