EFFECT OF PREVIOUS TRAUMA ON ACUTE PLASMA-CORTISOL LEVEL FOLLOWING RAPE

Objective: The authors examined the relationships among history of pre vious assault, severity of rape, acute plasma cortisol level after rap e, and development of rape-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD ). Method: Blood samples were drawn from 37 adult female rape victims within 51 hours after they had been raped. The subjects were assessed for history of previous assault and for the presence of PTSD 17-157 da ys (mean=90 days) after the rape. Results: Women with a history of pre vious assault had a lower mean acute cortisol level after the rape but a higher probability of subsequently developing PTSD. A significant i nteraction between history of previous assault and the severity of the index rape was observed: only women who had never been assaulted befo re had higher cortisol levels following high-severity rapes (those whi ch included injury or multiple types of penetration) than low-severity rapes. Conclusions: The authors conclude that previous traumatization may attenuate the acute cortisol response to trauma.