Psychological Assessments and the Stressfulness of Medically Indicated Abortion as Reflected by Hair Concentrations of Stress Hormones Cortisol and Testosterone: A Pilot Study

This study found that women undergoing mid-trimester termination of pregnancy exhibited increased cumulative cortisol and testosterone levels in hair samples, higher anxiety, but better stress coping strategies two months post-abortion, suggesting hair testosterone may be linked to emotional vulnerability such as neuroticism during this period.

This study found that depression and chronic stress are highly correlated in pregnant women, suggesting different stress mechanisms modulate hair cortisol levels in depressed versus non-depressed individuals.

This review highlights that hair cortisol levels, linked to pregnancy changes and higher in conditions like PCOS, are promising stress biomarkers in female reproductive health, though further research is needed.

This study found that hair steroid analysis effectively detected increased hormone levels from both a single testosterone dose and laboratory-induced stress, revealing individual context factors like relationship status also impact hair hormone concentrations.

In this study, hair glucocorticoid levels, including cortisol and cortisone, showed varied associations with psychosocial stress factors, influenced by covariates like sex, age, and individual behaviors.