Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Cortisol release and high levels of catecolamines are found after trauma and development of anxiety. Peripheral Cortisol level is low in adults but high in paediatric PTSD victims- who show an increase in salivary cortisol in the evening following trauma and that predicts PTSD 6 months later- both plasma interleukin-6 and evening cortisol can predict PTSD development, with then cortisol leveling off and noradrenaline concentrations increasing. Where as in adults with chronic PTSD, cortisol drops and catecholamines increase, signifying delayed (prolonged) PTSD, in children cortisol levels and noradrenaline mediates chronic PTSD. see Pervanidou, P. (2008). Biology of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Childhood and Adolescence. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 20(5), 632-638.