"During the sort of tense situation that makes palms sweat and voices quaver, children and young adults are typically awash in cortisol, a stress hormone that sounds an alarm and prepares the body for fight-or-flight responses to danger.
"In young girls who have been abused, however, the reaction may be very much the opposite. A stressful situation is more likely to trigger the release of oxytocin, a hormone sometimes called the "cuddle chemical."
"Surprisingly, girls who had experienced physical abuse didn't show a cortisol response to stress at all," says Leslie Seltzer, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Instead, they have a spike of oxytocin during stress."...
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-07-hormones-usher-abused-girls-early.html
Seltzer, et al. (2013). "Stress-Induced Elevation of Oxytocin in Maltreated Children: Evolution, Neurodevelopment, and Social Behavior." Child Development. Abstract.
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