Effects of childhood trauma on cortisol levels in suicide attempters and ideators.

•High levels of childhood trauma were reported in vulnerable individuals, in particular, in those who had previously made a suicide attempt.•Higher levels of childhood trauma were found to be associated with lower resting cortisol and blunted cortisol reactivity to stress.•Family history of suicide did not interact with childhood trauma to predict additional variability in cortisol at rest or in response to stress.