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Exposure to life stresses can lead to diminution in the capacity of stress response systems to mount a robust response to new challenges, with blunting of dynamic range—the spread between maximal attainable and minimal resting levels. We investigate the association between early-life adversity and the dynamic range of adult diurnal cortisol secretion.

In 35- to 86-year-old adults, cortisol assayed from 16 saliva samples over 4 consecutive days was used to compute diurnal dynamic range and area under the curve (AUC). Economic adversity in childhood was indexed by recalled parental education, family welfare dependence, and perceived financial status; and childhood social adversity by parental separation, death, and abuse.

Adjusted for age, gender, and race/ethnicity, both childhood adversities were strongly associated …