Penelope Trickett, a professor at the USC School of Social Work, has received the 2012 Excellence in Research Award from the Society for Social Work and Research for her work measuring cortisol levels over two decades among victims of sexual abuse.

Each year, SSWR gives the Excellence in Research Award to one article that it considers the best of that year. The organization cited Trickett’s rigorous approach, contribution to the field, and the critical nature of the problem as the basis for the award, which recognized her article, “Attenuation of Cortisol Across Development for Victims of Sexual Abuse.”

The article, published in the Cambridge University Press journal Development and Psychopathology, was written by Trickett and researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Pennsylvania State University who assessed more than 80 female victims of sexual abuse six times over 23 years.

“Penny's focused interest, sustained over the course of her career at USC, has brought unprecedented insight into the developmental challenges of sexually abused girls,” said Marilyn Flynn, dean of the School of Social Work. “She has been a true pioneer.”

The study found that as children, the victims had higher levels of cortisol, a hormone released in high levels during the body’s fight-or-flight response. However, by about age 15, the girls’ cortisol levels were below normal, a condition that has been linked to a decrease in the ability to deal with stress, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Trickett credited the success of this study, which has since produced similar analyses of the effects of sexual abuse on obesity rates and cognitive development, to her colleagues, who offered expertise in medicine, hormones, developmental psychology and statistical analysis to the project.

“This study is a good model for why collaborative and interdisciplinary work will move the field [of social work] ahead,” Trickett said. “We need each other in order to do a good job.”

Trickett and her team plan to continue studying this group of women, now in their 30s and many with their own children, concentrating on age-related physical health issues, such as diabetes.