A trivariate compound generalized poisson model for cortisol reactivity to social stress in adolescents

This study examines the hypothesis that depressed adolescents with a history of childhood maltreatment show greater cortisol reactivity to psychological stress challenge than those without, and this relation is moderated by level of depression severity. Adolescents with a history of maltreatment produce higher and prolonged levels of cortisol in response to the challenge than did adolescents with no maltreatment, but only among those with a mild/moderate level of depression severity. The probability mass function is derived for the three cases (i.e) minimal, moderate, severe and the corresponding mathematical figures are obtained in section 3. From these curves mathematical results have been analyzed and compared with the medical conclusion.