On the contrary, I believe the conclusions are accurate. You do know what hypocortisolism means, right? Hypo means suppressed, as opposed to hyper, which would mean elevated. The study's conclusion clearly states that rape-induced PTSD tends to cause HPA-axis dysregulation, resulting in depressed cortisol levels. This was the whole purpose of the study - to investigate why rape PTSD causes detached depression instead of the increased anxiety common in PTSD caused by other types of traumatic events.
The study's conclusion clearly states that rape-induced PTSD tends to cause HPA-axis dysregulation, resulting in depressed cortisol levels.
This is what the study says in the "Background: section...
In chronic sexual abuse victims with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis can be dysregulated. In single rape victims, PTSD symptoms are hypothesized to function as a chronic stressor leading to similar HPA-axis dysregulation.
They concluded what they hypothesized.