The interactive effects of negative life events, cortisol reactivity, and gender on psychological distress among emerging adults

• Negative life events, cortisol reactivity, and gender shape psychological distress. • Negative life events link traumatic stress in women with low cortisol reactivity. • Lower cortisol reactivity links to higher psychological distress in women. • Findings support a biopsychosocial approach to understanding distress. Negative life events are associated with the development of psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress symptoms. Evidence suggests that individual differences in stress response system activity may alter susceptibility to psychological distress for those with exposure to negative life events. In particular, women experience greater levels of psychological distress than men. Given that emerging adulthood is characterized by stressful, significant life transitions that may constitute risks for psychological distress, this study examined whether hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity and gender influenced the link between negative life events and psychological distress among emerging adults. Participants ( N = 176; mean age = 19.03, 55% women) self-reported negative life events during emerging adulthood and current depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress symptoms. HPA-axis activity was indexed by cortisol reactivity in response to a psychosocial stress task measured using the area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg) and increase (AUCi). Regression analyses revealed a significant three-way interaction between negative life events, cortisol reactivity, and gender in predicting traumatic stress symptoms. Specifically, the association between negative life events and traumatic stress symptoms was stronger among women with lower levels of AUCg cortisol reactivity. Moreover, significant two-way interactions emerged between AUCi cortisol reactivity and gender in predicting depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress symptoms. Lower levels of cortisol reactivity were more strongly associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress symptoms only among women, but not among men. These findings highlight the importance of utilizing a biopsychosocial approach in understanding the development of psychological distress.