Early life trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and allostatic load in a sample of American Indian adults.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Among American Indians, prior research has found associations between early life trauma and the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adulthood. Given the physiological changes associated with PTSD, early life trauma could indirectly contribute to chronic disease risk. However, the impact of early life trauma on adult physical health in this population has not been previously investigated.

Methods

We evaluated associations among early life trauma, PTSD, and 13 physiological biomarkers that index cardiovascular, metabolic, neuroendocrine, anthropometric, and immune function in adulthood by conducting correlation and structural equation modeling path analyses (N = 197). Physiological systems were analyzed individually as well as in a composite meas

SUBMITTER: Thayer Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5432430 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature