Abstract

Children with intellectual disability (ID) usually exhibit neuroendocrine functioning impairment, such as alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) neuroendocrine axis, which can result in glucocorticoid cortisol release alterations. Indeed, many studies showed a positive association between ID and cortisol concentration. However, evidence is lacking on the relationship between child neurodevelopment and cortisol levels during adolescence in population-based studies. We aimed to test the association between ID and hair cortisol concentration (HCC) during adolescence in a prospective population-based cohort.