Increases in Circulating Cortisol during the COVID-19 Pandemic are Associated with Changes in Perceived Positive and Negative Affect among Adolescents

Hair steroid before and after COVID-19 in preschoolers: the moderation of family characteristics

BACKGROUND

Frequent or prolonged exposure to stressors may jeopardize young children's health. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with disruptions in daily routines and social isolation resulting from public health preventive measures, have raised concerns about its potential impact on children' experienced stress, particularly for young children and vulnerable families. However, whether the pandemic was accompanied by changes in physiological stress remains unknown as perceived stress is not a good proxy of physiological stress. This study examined if preschoolers showed increasing hair steroid concentrations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether family characteristics may have exacerbated or buffered these changes.

METHODS

136 preschoolers (2-4 years) provided hair for steroid measurement (cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), cortisone, cortisol-to-DHEA ratio, cortisol-to-cortisone ratio) in October-November 2019 (T0) and in July-August 2020 (T1). A 2-centimeter hair segment was analyzed, reflecting steroid production over the two months leading up to collection. Family income, conflict resolution and lack of cohesion, as well as parents' COVID-19 stress were reported by parents. Linear mixed models for repeated measures and Bayes factors were used.

RESULTS

No significant changes were noted from before to after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for most hair steroids. However, a moderating role of family conflict resolution was noted. Children living with parents with a better ability to resolve conflicts had lower levels of DHEA compared to those who had more difficulty managing conflicts. Additionally, lower levels of family cohesion and income were linked to some steroids, especially DHEA, suggesting that these factors may relate to children's physiological stress. Finally, boys had higher DHEA levels than girls.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that stress biomarkers were comparable from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. This observation holds true despite the pandemic being perceived by many as a novel, unpredictable, and potentially threatening event. Findings further suggest that family characteristics are associated with hair steroid, especially DHEA, which deserves further investigation.

It's all in the hair: Association between changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and post-traumatic stress symptoms in children over time

After exposure to a stressful/traumatic event, some individuals will develop post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). In adults, low cortisol levels appear to be a risk factor for the development of PTSS. Indeed, both lower pre-trauma cortisol levels and low cortisol levels in the aftermath of a traumatic event have been associated with greater PTSS. In contrast, studies conducted in children showed that elevated cortisol levels shortly after trauma exposure are associated with more severe post-traumatic stress symptomatology. The few studies that have examined how pre-trauma cortisol levels predict PTSS in children have found no effect. Given that a pandemic can induce PTSS in certain individuals, we investigated whether cortisol secretion prior to and in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec (Canada) predicted PTSS in children. In June 2020, we collected a hair sample from 71 children (8-15 y/o, M = 11.65; 54.93% girls) without a history of psychopathology or exposure to previous traumatic events. Hair samples allowed us to derive cumulative measures of cortisol levels for the months prior to (from mid-December 2019 to mid-March 2020) and at the beginning of the pandemic (from mid-March 2020 to mid-June 2020). PTSS were assessed every 3 months between June 2020 (T1) and March 2021 (T4). The results showed that a greater increase in hair cortisol at the beginning of the pandemic predicted less PTSS at T1, with an increase in these symptoms over time. This study highlights the utility of using hair cortisol during future chronic stressful events to better understand its association with the evolution of distress.

Higher oxytocin concentrations occur in subjects who build affiliative relationships with companion robots

Building affiliative relationships with others is important for mental health. Recently, robots have been expected to play a role in improving mental health, but there is little scientific evidence as to whether they can build affiliative relationships with humans. To investigate that, we conducted studies combining behavior, physiology and questionnaires for companion robot Owners and Non-Owners. The results reveal that the steady-state concentration of oxytocin, a hormone related to affiliative relationships, was significantly higher in Owners than in Non-Owners. In addition, the Owners showed more behaviors indicative of intimacy than the Non-Owners. These results suggest that humans can build affiliative relationships with robots. Fifteen minutes of contact with the robot decreased the concentration of cortisol in both groups, suggesting that even a brief contact can contribute to improving mental health. Therefore, relationships between humans and robots may be one option to improve mental health and enhance well-being.

People who binge drink show neuroendocrine tolerance to alcohol cues that is associated with immediate and future drinking- results from a randomized clinical experiment

Neuroendocrine tolerance to alcohol, i.e., a blunted cortisol response to alcohol, has been linked to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (VmPFC) alcohol cue reactivity and relapse risk in severe Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs), but its role in the development of AUDs is not clear. Recent work suggests that blunted cortisol responses to alcohol cues in individuals who engage in binge drinking (BD) may play a role in motivation to consume larger amounts of alcohol, but the link between this dysregulated endocrine response and BD's neural responses to alcohol cues remains unclear. To examine this, two groups of participants were recruited based on their recent drinking history. Thirty-three BD and 31 non-binging, social drinkers (SD) were exposed to alcohol cues and water cues in two separate 7 T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. Each scan was followed by the Alcohol Taste Test (ATT) of implicit motivation for alcohol and a post-experiment, one-month prospective measurement of their "real world" drinking behavior. During each scan session, blood plasma was collected repeatedly to examine the separate effects of alcohol cues and alcohol consumption on cortisol levels. Relative to water cues and SD, BD demonstrated blunted cortisol cue reactivity that was negatively associated with VmPFC cue reactivity. In BD, both blunted cortisol and greater VmPFC cue reactivity were related to immediate and future alcohol consumption in the month following the scans. Thus, neuroendocrine tolerance in BD may be associated with increased incentive salience of cues and contribute mechanistically to increased alcohol consumption seen in the development of AUDs.

Protocol for the COVID-19 Wellbeing and Stress Study: a longitudinal study of parent distress, biological stress and child biopsychosocial development during the pandemic and beyond

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a unique impact on the mental health and well-being of pregnant individuals and parents of young children. However, the impact of COVID-19-related stress during pregnancy on early child biopsychosocial development, remains unclear. The COVID-19 Wellbeing and Stress Study will: (1) investigate the impact of different forms of prenatal stress experienced during the pandemic (including objective hardship, perceived psychological distress and biological stress) on child stress biology, (2) examine the association between child stress biology and child developmental outcomes, (3) determine whether child stress biology acts as a mechanism linking prenatal stress to adverse child developmental outcomes and (4) assess whether gestational age at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic or child sex, moderate these associations.

METHODS AND ANALYSES

The COVID-19 Wellbeing and Stress Study is a prospective longitudinal study, consisting of six time points, spanning from pregnancy to 3 years postpartum. The study began in June 2020, consisting of 304 pregnant people from Ontario, Canada. This multimethod study is composed of questionnaires, biological samples, behavioural observations and developmental assessments ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board (#11034) and the Mount Saint Vincent University Research Ethics Board (#2020-187, #2021-075, #2022-008). Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed presentations and publications, community presentations, and electronic forums (social media, newsletters and website postings).

Understanding adolescent stress during the COVID-19 pandemic

Longitudinal studies across the globe documented significant increases in psychological stress and mental health problems among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health concerns, school disruptions, and social disconnection were major sources of stress. High levels of perceived stress predicted worse mental health outcomes, with girls, older adolescents, and socio-economically marginalized youth experiencing more pronounced mental health deteriorations. However, social support from family and peers was a protective factor against increased stress and accompanying mental health problems. We urge policymakers and other key decision-makers to improve the availability and financing of mental health services and support programs for adolescents to address the wave of mental health challenges following the pandemic.

Adolescents with Neuropsychiatric Disorders during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Focus on Emotional Well-Being and Parental Stress

(1) Introduction: The aim of our research was to explore emotional/behavioral changes in adolescents with neuropsychiatric conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and parental stress levels through a standardized assessment, comparing the data collected before and during the first months of lockdown. Moreover, an additional goal was to detect a possible relationship between emotional/behavioural symptoms of adolescents and the stress levels of their parents. (2) Methods: We enrolled 178 Italian adolescents aged between 12-18 that were referred to the Child Neuropsychiatry Unit of the University Hospital of Salerno with different neuropsychiatric diagnoses. Two standardized questionnaires were provided to all parents for the assessment of parental stress (PSI-Parenting Stress Index-Short Form) and the emotional/behavioral problems of their children (Child Behaviour Check List). The data collected from questionnaires administered during the six months preceding the pandemic, as is our usual clinical practice, were compared to those recorded during the pandemic. (3) Results: The statistical comparison of PSI and CBCL scores before/during the pandemic showed a statistically significant increase in all subscales in the total sample. The correlation analysis highlighted a significant positive relationship between Parental Stress and Internalizing/Externalizing symptoms of adolescent patients. Age and gender did not significantly affect CBCL and PSI scores, while the type of diagnosis could affect behavioral symptoms and parental stress. (4) Conclusions: our study suggests that the lockdown and the containment measures adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic could have aggravated the emotional/behavioral symptoms of adolescents with neuropsychiatric disorders and the stress of their parents. Further studies should be conducted in order to monitor the evolution of these aspects over time.