Cambridge Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Group, Section of Developmental Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2013 Jun;57(6):539-51. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2012.01557.x. Epub 2012 Apr 25.
Cortisol is a marker of physiological arousal, exhibiting a characteristic pattern of diurnal activity. The daily cortisol profile has been xamined extensively and is atypical in a number of clinical disorders. However, there are very few studies focussing on the cortisol profile in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). This paper reports a preliminary investigation into the nature of the cortisol profile in adults with mild or moderate ID and provides reflections on the challenges of psychophysiological research in this population.
On two consecutive days, 39 adults with mild or moderate ID each donated saliva samples for cortisol analysis, at multiple times between waking and evening. A comparison between these data and the published literature permitted a descriptive assessment of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and diurnal profile. A variety of psychometric measures and an assessment of behavioural history were also collected in order to describe aspects of the participants' emotional and behavioural states.
Individuals with ID exhibit a diurnal cortisol secretion profile, qualitatively similar to that of the typical, healthy, adult population. However, the findings also suggested a blunted CAR, warranting further investigation. There was also some evidence that cortisol secretion was affected by anxiety and a recent history of aggression.
While further work is required to characterise the CAR fully, there was no indication that the diurnal cortisol profile among people with ID differs from that of the typical population. This study also demonstrates that, although challenging, it is feasible, and acceptable to participants, to collect repeated physiological measures from men and women with mild and moderate ID.
皮质醇是生理唤醒的标志物，呈现出昼夜活动的特征模式。每日皮质醇谱已被广泛研究，在许多临床疾病中都不典型。然而，专注于智力障碍（ID）成年人皮质醇谱的研究非常少。本文报告了对轻度或中度 ID 成年人皮质醇谱性质的初步研究，并对该人群心理生理学研究的挑战进行了反思。
在连续两天的时间里，39 名轻度或中度 ID 成年人每人在醒来和晚上之间的多个时间点采集唾液样本进行皮质醇分析。将这些数据与已发表的文献进行比较，允许对皮质醇觉醒反应（CAR）和昼夜谱进行描述性评估。还收集了各种心理测量措施和行为史评估，以便描述参与者的情绪和行为状态的各个方面。
ID 个体表现出昼夜皮质醇分泌模式，与典型的健康成年人群相似。然而，研究结果还表明 CAR 减弱，需要进一步研究。还有一些证据表明皮质醇的分泌受到焦虑和最近的攻击行为的影响。
虽然需要进一步的工作来充分描述 CAR，但 ID 人群的昼夜皮质醇谱与典型人群没有差异。这项研究还表明，尽管具有挑战性，但从轻度和中度 ID 的男性和女性中重复采集生理测量是可行且可以被参与者接受的。
