1
|
Jacques DT, Sturge-Apple ML, Davies PT, Cicchetti D. Maternal alcohol dependence symptoms, maternal insensitivity to children's distress, and young children's blunted emotional reactivity. Dev Psychopathol 2024:1-23. [PMID: 38426705 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579424000324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Maternal insensitivity to children's emotional distress (e.g., expressions of sadness or fearfulness) is one mechanism through which maternal alcohol dependence may increase children's risk for psychopathology. Although emotion dysregulation is consistently associated with psychopathology, it remains unclear how or why alcohol dependence's effects on caregiving responses to children's distress may impact children's emotion regulation over time, particularly in ways that may engender risks for psychopathology. This study examined longitudinal associations between lifetime maternal alcohol dependence symptoms, mothers' insensitivity to children's emotional distress cues, and children's emotional reactivity among 201 mother-child dyads (Mchild age = 2.14 years; 56% Black; 11% Latino). Structural equation modeling analyses revealed a significant mediational pathway such that maternal alcohol dependence predicted increases in mothers' insensitivity to children's emotional distress across a one-year period (β = .16, p = .013), which subsequently predicted decreases in children's emotional reactivity one year later (β = -.29, p = .009). Results suggest that mothers with alcohol dependence symptoms may struggle to sensitively respond to children's emotional distress, which may prompt children to suppress or hide their emotions as an adaptive, protective strategy. The potential developmental benefits and consequences of early, protective expressive suppression strategies are discussed via developmental psychopathology frameworks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Melissa L Sturge-Apple
- Department of Psychology and Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Patrick T Davies
- Department of Psychology and Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Dante Cicchetti
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Young G. Psychotherapeutic Change Mechanisms and Causal Psychotherapy: Applications to Child Abuse and Trauma. JOURNAL OF CHILD & ADOLESCENT TRAUMA 2022; 15:911-923. [PMID: 35958715 PMCID: PMC9360301 DOI: 10.1007/s40653-022-00438-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
The study of change mechanisms in psychotherapy needs to be integrated with the causality of behavior, which leads to the concept of causal psychotherapy. Causal psychotherapy is posited as a useful adjunct to standard, evidence based psychotherapies for child and youth victims of abuse and trauma. The article illustrates six processes that could be involved in causal psychotherapy in this context, from the distal to the proximal. They include the distal mechanism of activation-inhibition coordination. The most proximal one relates to executive function. The intermediate levels include ones related to co-regulation (e.g., self control), analysis-synthesis, objectivity-subjectivity, and psychological reserve, which is a new concept in the domain of psychological change mechanisms. Each of the variables can vary from high to low, with the low end being more problematic. Psychotherapy can aim to bring the patient toward adaptive levels. The literature review focuses on psychotherapeutic change mechanisms, and standard psychotherapies for child/youth abuse/trauma, especially trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT). Then, it considers causal aspects of child/youth abuse and trauma, including PTSD. The discussion relates causal therapy to the question of unifying psychology and psychotherapy under the rubric of causality as a core integrative mechanism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gerald Young
- Glendon College, York University, Toronto, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Cochran KA, Bogat GA, Levendosky AA, Martinez-Torteya C. Conflict Appraisals and Trauma Symptoms in Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence. VIOLENCE AND VICTIMS 2022; 37:244-259. [PMID: 35197304 DOI: 10.1891/vv-d-20-00115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) are at risk for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and alterations in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. The current study investigated children's threat and self-blame appraisals about parental conflict as potential mechanisms leading to these adverse outcomes. Parent-child relationships were also examined. The sample consisted of 119 10-year-olds and their mothers who were recruited from the community as part of a larger study of IPV. Children's reports of IPV directed at their mother in the past year were not associated with PTSS; however, IPV exposure was associated with attenuated cortisol output in response to a social stressor. IPV exposure was also associated with greater threat appraisals and poorer quality parent-child relationships. These results provide further evidence that witnessing IPV is threatening for children, has negative consequences for parent-child relationships, and can impact children's HPA axis functioning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kara A Cochran
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - G Anne Bogat
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
4
|
Lyons‐Ruth K, Yarger HA. Developmental costs associated with early maternal withdrawal. CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES 2022; 16:10-17. [PMID: 35873453 PMCID: PMC9303254 DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Neglect is the most prevalent form of maltreatment, but it has been understudied relative to abuse. Additionally, developmental outcomes associated with early maternal withdrawal have been understudied relative to outcomes associated with harsh treatment. However, a large body of studies on rodents has documented the causal effect of low maternal care on altered stress responses in offspring. Other evidence from human studies links early maternal withdrawal to clinical levels of neglect. Studies of both rodents and humans suggest that, rather than the aversive responses (e.g., fight, flight, freeze) modeled in relation to threat of attack or harsh treatment, early maternal withdrawal is associated with increased calling and contact seeking to mothers. Moreover, two longitudinal studies indicate that early maternal withdrawal, but not negative-intrusive interaction, contributes to adolescent borderline psychopathology. The field needs prospective studies with well-operationalized constructs of maternal withdrawal to delineate the distinct developmental pathways that may be associated with neglect.
Collapse
|
5
|
Stoop TB, Cole PM. Listening in: An Alternative Method for Measuring the Family Emotional Environment. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 2022; 25:151-165. [PMID: 35201541 PMCID: PMC8957590 DOI: 10.1007/s10567-022-00392-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
The family emotional environment influences children's development of emotion regulation in various ways. Children's difficulties with effectively regulating emotions, in turn, can contribute to the development of psychopathology. However, the pathways that explain how environmental emotion-including overheard emotion among family members-influences children's development of healthy or problematic emotion regulation are unclear. In this article, we briefly discuss the most common methods (e.g., questionnaires, laboratory observations) used to assess emotion in the family. We consider the benefits and limitations of these methods and discuss the need for objective measurement of the family emotional environment. We include a description of the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), which provides unobtrusive, extended sampling of the emotional tone of family interaction in the home. We present preliminary evidence of its use with 7- and 8-year-old and their families during one day at home. The method reveals that objectively assessed parent-to-parent interactions that are negatively toned, but not parental self-report of conflict or expressivity, are associated with children's self-reported emotional reactions to hearing independently recorded clips of their mothers' voices during simulated angry interactions. The finding suggests unique contributions of objective, unobtrusive, extended measurement of the family emotional environment to understanding aspects of children's emotional development that may not be captured with other commonly used methods. We discuss future directions that explore how EAR may be used to further our knowledge of the pathways between environmental emotion as a risk factor that influences children's emotional functioning and their psychological well-being.
Collapse
|
6
|
Senehi N, Flykt M, Biringen Z, Laudenslager ML, Watamura SE, Garrett BA, Kominsky TK, Wurster HE, Sarche M. Emotional Availability as a Moderator of Stress for Young Children and Parents in Two Diverse Early Head Start Samples. PREVENTION SCIENCE : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR PREVENTION RESEARCH 2021:10.1007/s11121-021-01307-7. [PMID: 34773574 DOI: 10.1007/s11121-021-01307-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Positive parent-child relationship quality is critical for buffering children from the effects of stress on development. It is thus vital to develop interventions that target parent-child relationship quality for families experiencing stress. We examined the moderating role of parent-child relationship quality (as measured by parental emotional availability [EA]) in the intergenerational association between parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their young children's hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs)-a physiological marker of cumulative hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA)-axis activity. Using data from 127 parent-child dyads collected by two of six ACF-funded Buffering Toxic Stress consortium sites, we tested interaction effects of parental ACEs with parental EA on young children's (Mage = 18.38, SDage = 7.10) HCC. Results revealed curvilinear main effects such that higher parental ACEs were significantly associated with greater HCC and stronger associations occurred at higher levels of parental ACEs. However, this association was moderated by parental EA. Thus, among children with higher parental history of ACEs, children of parents with higher EA had lower HCC compared to children of parents with lower EA. These findings provide support for the risk-buffering and risk-exacerbating role of parent-child relationship quality (e.g., EA) for the transmission of parents' early life adversity on their children's HPA-axis activity, documented here in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of children and parents served by Early Head Start. Findings suggest that intervention and prevention efforts targeting stress response in children of mothers with childhood adversity should also support parents in building an emotionally available relationship with their children.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Neda Senehi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 31001 E 17th Place, Aurora, CO, USA.
| | - Marjo Flykt
- Faculty of Social Sciences/Psychology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Faculty of Medicine/Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Zeynep Biringen
- Department of Human Development and Family Services, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
| | - Mark L Laudenslager
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 31001 E 17th Place, Aurora, CO, USA
| | | | | | | | - Hannah E Wurster
- Department of Human Development and Family Services, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
| | - Michelle Sarche
- Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Rawn KP, Keller PS. Exposure to intimate partner aggression during childhood is associated with blunted skin conductance recovery following stress in early adulthood. Psychophysiology 2021; 59:e13968. [PMID: 34762295 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2021] [Revised: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
This study examines skin conductance level (SCL) trajectories and childhood exposure to intimate partner aggression (IPA) committed between parents in a sample of college students. Although IPA among parents does not directly involve children, children frequently see or are exposed to IPA first-hand when it occurs. This exposure to IPA increases risks for psychopathology and emotional or behavioral difficulties for children or adolescents later in life. However, research has not yet examined the stress response patterns of individuals exposed to IPA, nor how reactivity to stress may be altered based on this exposure. Participants included 161 college students who completed questionnaires assessing demographics, mental health, and exposure to IPA, and also reported on family functioning and parental drinking habits. Additionally, participants completed a three-minute mirror tracing task followed by a three-minute recovery period while SCL was monitored. Multilevel modeling was used to assess whether frequency or level of exposure to IPA was related to trajectories of SCL. Neither variable was related to SCL trajectories during the mirror-tracing task. However, both frequency and level of exposure were related to SCL trajectories during the recovery period, such that for participants reporting higher levels of either IPA exposure variable, SCL trajectories during recovery declined less rapidly and did not decline to as low of a level compared to participants reporting lower levels of IPA exposure. This blunted SCL recovery may be due to wear and tear from repeated innervation, or a calibrating of the SCL response to adapt to a volatile home environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kyle P Rawn
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
| | - Peggy S Keller
- Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Jacques DT, Sturge-Apple ML, Davies PT, Cicchetti D. Parsing alcohol-dependent mothers' insensitivity to child distress: Longitudinal links with children's affective and anxiety problems. Dev Psychol 2021; 57:900-912. [PMID: 34424008 PMCID: PMC8386000 DOI: 10.1037/dev0001190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Prior work suggests that substance-dependent mothers insensitively respond to their child's emotional needs, which can increase children's risk for psychopathology. However, the mechanisms and processes underlying these associations remain unclarified. Mothers' insensitivity to children's distress is an especially unique predictor of child maladjustment, yet no study has examined whether or how different types of insensitivity to child distress uniquely affect the development of internalizing problems in children of alcohol-dependent mothers. To bridge these gaps, this study examined longitudinal mediational pathways between maternal alcohol dependence symptoms, 2 types of maternal insensitivity to child distress (disengagement and intrusiveness), and 2 types of child internalizing symptoms (affective and anxiety problems) in a majority Black and Latinx sample of young children (Mage = 2.14 years) and their mothers. Results revealed that maternal disengagement mediated associations between maternal alcohol dependence symptoms and child internalizing problems such that alcohol dependence predicted increased disengagement to children's distress, which subsequently predicted increases in children's affective problems. Maternal alcohol dependence symptoms were not associated with intrusiveness to child distress; however, increased intrusiveness predicted later increases in child anxiety problems. Findings support a differentiated approach to studying maternal insensitivity to child distress, specifically indicating that mothers with alcohol dependence symptoms may be more or less likely to display certain types of insensitivity to child distress which may differentially influence children's risk for internalizing problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
|
9
|
The differential calibration of the HPA axis as a function of trauma versus adversity: A systematic review and p-curve meta-analyses. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 127:54-135. [PMID: 33857580 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Although there is an abundance of evidence linking the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to adverse early-life experiences, the precise nature of the association remains unclear. Some evidence suggests early-life adversity leads to cortisol hyper-reactivity, while other evidence suggests adversity leads to cortisol hypo-reactivity. Here, we distinguish between trauma and adversity, and use p-curves to interrogate the conflicting literature. In Study 1, trauma was operationalized according to DSM-5 criteria; the p-curve analysis included 68 articles and revealed that the literature reporting associations between trauma and blunted cortisol reactivity contains evidential value. Study 2 examined the relationship between adversity and cortisol reactivity. Thirty articles were included in the analysis, and p-curve demonstrated that adversity is related to heightened cortisol reactivity. These results support an inverted U-shaped function relating severity of adversity and cortisol reactivity, and underscore the importance of distinguishing between "trauma" and "adversity".
Collapse
|
10
|
Hoyniak CP, Bates JE, McQuillan ME, Albert LE, Staples AD, Molfese VJ, Rudasill KM, Deater-Deckard K. The Family Context of Toddler Sleep: Routines, Sleep Environment, and Emotional Security Induction in the Hour before Bedtime. Behav Sleep Med 2021; 19:795-813. [PMID: 33356565 PMCID: PMC8233403 DOI: 10.1080/15402002.2020.1865356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Family processes during the pre-bedtime period likely have a crucial influence on toddler sleep, but relatively little previous research has focused on family process in this context. The current study examined several aspects of family process during the pre-bedtime period, including the use of bedtime routines, the qualities of the child's home sleep environment, and the promotion of child emotional security, in families of 30-month-old toddlers (N= 546; 265 female) who were part of a multi-site longitudinal study of toddler development. These characteristics were quantified using a combination of parent- and observer-reports and examined in association with child sleep using correlation and multiple regression. Child sleep was assessed using actigraphy to measure sleep duration, timing, variability, activity, and latency. Bedtime routines were examined using parents' daily records. Home sleep environment and emotional security induction were quantified based on observer ratings and in-home observation notes, respectively. All three measures of pre-bedtime context (i.e., bedtime routine inconsistency, poor quality sleep environments, and emotional security induction) were correlated with various aspects of child sleep (significant correlations:.11-.22). The most robust associations occurred between the pre-bedtime context measures and sleep timing (i.e., the timing of the child's sleep schedule) and variability (i.e., night to night variability in sleep timing and duration). Pre-bedtime variables, including bedtime routine consistency, home sleep environment quality, and positive emotional security induction, also mediated the association between family socioeconomic status and child sleep. Our findings underscore the value of considering family context when examining individual differences in child sleep.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Caroline P. Hoyniak
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA
| | - John E. Bates
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
| | - Maureen E. McQuillan
- Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, USA
| | - Lauren E. Albert
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
| | | | - Victoria J. Molfese
- Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA
| | | | - Kirby Deater-Deckard
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Milojevich HM, Machlin L, Sheridan MA. Early adversity and children's emotion regulation: Differential roles of parent emotion regulation and adversity exposure. Dev Psychopathol 2020; 32:1788-1798. [PMID: 33427171 PMCID: PMC8034486 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579420001273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to early life adversity (ELA) is associated with increased rates of psychopathology and poor physical health. The present study builds on foundational work by Megan Gunnar identifying how ELA results in poor long-term outcomes through alterations in the stress response system, leading to major disruptions in emotional and behavioral regulation. Specifically, the present study tested the direct effects of ELA against the role of parent socialization to shed light on the mechanisms by which ELA leads to emotion regulation deficits. Children ages 4-7 years (N = 64) completed interviews about their experiences of deprivation and threat, a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm, and an IQ test. Parents of the children completed questionnaires regarding their own emotion regulation difficulties and psychopathology, their children's emotion regulation, and child exposure to adversity. At the bivariate level, greater exposure to threat and parental difficulties with emotion regulation were associated with poorer emotion regulation in children, assessed both via parental report and physiologically. In models where parental difficulties with emotion regulation, threat, and deprivation were introduced simultaneously, regression results indicated that parental difficulties with emotion regulation, but not deprivation or threat, continued to predict children's emotion regulation abilities. These results suggest that parental socialization of emotion is a robust predictor of emotion regulation tendencies in children exposed to early adversity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Helen M Milojevich
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | - Laura Machlin
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Margaret A Sheridan
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Salisbury MR, Stienwandt S, Giuliano R, Penner-Goeke L, Fisher PA, Roos LE. Stress system reactivity moderates the association between cumulative risk and children's externalizing symptoms. Int J Psychophysiol 2020; 158:248-258. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2019] [Revised: 09/13/2020] [Accepted: 09/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
|
13
|
Abstract
Maltreatment adversely impacts the development of children across a host of domains. One way in which maltreatment may exert its deleterious effects is by becoming embedded in the activity of neurophysiological systems that regulate metabolic function. This paper reviews the literature regarding the association between childhood maltreatment and the activity of three systems: the parasympathetic nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. A particular emphasis is placed on the extent to which the literature supports a common account of activity across these systems under conditions of homeostasis and stress. The paper concludes with an outline of directions for future research and the implications of the literature for policy and practice.
Collapse
|
14
|
Davies PT, Parry LQ, Bascoe SM, Cicchetti D, Cummings EM. Interparental conflict as a curvilinear risk factor of youth emotional and cortisol reactivity. Dev Psychol 2020; 56:1787-1802. [PMID: 32567867 DOI: 10.1037/dev0001037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
This study examined interparental conflict as a linear and curvilinear predictor of subsequent changes in adolescents' negative emotional reactivity and cortisol functioning during family conflict and, in turn, their psychological difficulties. In addition, adolescents' negative emotional reactivity and cortisol functioning during family conflict were examined as subsequent predictors of their psychological difficulties. Participants included 258 adolescents (52% girls) and their parents and teachers who participated in 3 annual measurement occasions. Adolescents were 13 years old on average (standard deviation [SD] = .57) at the first measurement occasion, were generally from middle- and working-class backgrounds, and identified mostly as White (e.g., 74%). The results of latent-difference score analyses indicated that a multimethod and multiinformant assessment of interparental conflict linearly predicted subsequent changes in observational ratings of adolescent emotional reactivity and their overall cortisol output in response to family conflict over a 1-year period. These changes, in turn, predicted increases in multiinformant reports of adolescent psychological problems over a 2-year period. However, the linear association in the first link in the cascade was qualified by the quadratic effects of interparental conflict as a predictor. Consistent with risk-saturation models, the relatively strong associations among interparental conflict and youth emotional reactivity and cortisol output at mild and moderate exposure to conflict weakened as exposure to conflict reached higher levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
|
15
|
Holochwost SJ, Towe-Goodman N, Rehder PD, Wang G, Mills-Koonce WR. Poverty, Caregiving, and HPA-Axis Activity in Early Childhood. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2020; 56:100898. [PMID: 32377027 PMCID: PMC7202478 DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2020.100898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The association between poverty and the activity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis in early childhood is well established. Both ecological and transactional theories suggest that one way in which poverty may influence children's HPA-axis activity is through its effects on parents' behaviors, and over the past three decades a substantial literature has accumulated indicating that variations in these behaviors are associated with individual differences in young children's HPA-axis activity. More recent research suggests that non-parental caregiving behaviors are associated with HPA-axis activity in early childhood as well. Here we systematically review the literature on the association between both parental and non-parental caregiving behaviors in the context of poverty and the activity of the HPA-axis in early childhood. We conclude by noting commonalities across these two literatures and their implications for future research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Steven J. Holochwost
- Corresponding author: Science of Learning Institute Johns Hopkins University, 167 Krieger Hall, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, U.S.A. (410) 516-5983.
| | - Nissa Towe-Goodman
- Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, Sheryl-Mar North, Room 111, Campus Box 8040, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8040, U.S.A
| | - Peter D. Rehder
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina Greensboro, 319 College Avenue, 248 Stone Building, Greensboro, NC 27412, U.S.A
| | - Guan Wang
- School of Education, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 301K Peabody Hall, CB 3500, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3500, U.S.A
| | - W. Roger Mills-Koonce
- School of Education, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 301K Peabody Hall, CB 3500, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3500, U.S.A
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
M. Nilsen F, Frank J, S. Tulve N. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Investigating the Relationship between Exposures to Chemical and Non-Chemical Stressors during Prenatal Development and Childhood Externalizing Behaviors. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020; 17:ijerph17072361. [PMID: 32244397 PMCID: PMC7177257 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17072361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Revised: 03/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Childhood behavioral outcomes have been linked to low quality intrauterine environments caused by prenatal exposures to both chemical and non-chemical stressors. The effect(s) from the many stressors a child can be prenatally exposed to may be influenced by complex interactive relationships that are just beginning to be understood. Chemical stressors influence behavioral outcomes by affecting the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) enzyme, which is involved in serotonin metabolism and the neuroendocrine response to stress. Non-chemical stressors, particularly those associated with violence, have been shown to influence and exacerbate the externalizing behavioral outcomes associated with low MAOA activity and slowed serotonin metabolism. The adverse developmental effects associated with high stress and maternal drug use during pregnancy are well documented. However, research examining the combined effects of other non-chemical and chemical stressors on development and childhood outcomes as a result of gestational exposures is scarce but is an expanding field. In this systematic review, we examined the extant literature to explore the interrelationships between exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors (specifically stressful/traumatic experiences), MAOA characteristics, and childhood externalizing behaviors. We observed that exposures to chemical stressors (recreational drugs and environmental chemicals) are significantly related to externalizing behavioral outcomes in children. We also observed that existing literature examining the interactions between MAOA characteristics, exposures to chemical stressors, and traumatic experiences and their effects on behavioral outcomes is sparse. We propose that maternal stress and cortisol fluctuations during pregnancy may be an avenue to link these concepts. We recommend that future studies investigating childhood behaviors include chemical and non-chemical stressors as well as children’s inherent genetic characteristics to gain a holistic understanding of the relationship between prenatal exposures and childhood behavioral outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Frances M. Nilsen
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 TW Alexander Dr., Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA;
- Correspondence:
| | - Jessica Frank
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 TW Alexander Dr., Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA;
| | - Nicolle S. Tulve
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, 109 TW Alexander Dr., Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Gao MM, de Silva AD, Cummings EM, Davies PT. Interrelatedness of Children's Psychological and Physiological Responses to Interparental Conflict: A Moderating Role of Harsh Parenting. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2019; 28:1016-1036. [PMID: 31741575 DOI: 10.1111/sode.12376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Children's psychological and physiological responses to interparental conflict have received considerable attention due to their implications for later adjustment, yet limited research has investigated the interplay between these two response systems. This study investigates patterns of association between children's psychological responses (e.g., emotional distress) and cortisol reactivity to interparental conflict, including possible moderations by negative caregiving environment. Participants included 193 families (mother, father, and child). Parents completed questionnaires relating to their caregiving behaviors toward the child (107 girls and 86 boys, M age = 7.99 years, SD = 0.53 years) and children's psychological responses to interparental conflict. Children provided three saliva samples over the course of watching videos depicting conflicts between two adults, whom children were asked to pretend were their parents. Based on a series of Latent Growth Curve Models, only children's emotional responses to interparental conflict (indicated by increased distress) were associated with greater cortisol reactivity. Additionally, fathers' harsh parenting behavior moderated the relation between children's emotional reactivity and cortisol reactivity, yet the moderation effect was not found for mothers' parenting. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of exploring both psychological and physiological reactivity to conflict and the possible moderating role of harsh parenting.
Collapse
|
18
|
Bhattacharya S, Fontaine A, MacCallum PE, Drover J, Blundell J. Stress Across Generations: DNA Methylation as a Potential Mechanism Underlying Intergenerational Effects of Stress in Both Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Pre-clinical Predator Stress Rodent Models. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 13:113. [PMID: 31191267 PMCID: PMC6547031 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 05/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Although most humans will experience some type of traumatic event in their lifetime only a small set of individuals will go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Differences in sex, age, trauma type, and comorbidity, along with many other elements, contribute to the heterogenous manifestation of this disorder. Nonetheless, aberrant hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, especially in terms of cortisol and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) alterations, has been postulated as a tenable factor in the etiology and pathophysiology of PTSD. Moreover, emerging data suggests that the harmful effects of traumatic stress to the HPA axis in PTSD can also propagate into future generations, making offspring more prone to psychopathologies. Predator stress models provide an ethical and ethologically relevant way to investigate tentative mechanisms that are thought to underlie this phenomenon. In this review article, we discuss findings from human and laboratory predator stress studies that suggest changes to DNA methylation germane to GRs may underlie the generational effects of trauma transmission. Understanding mechanisms that promote stress-induced psychopathology will represent a major advance in the field and may lead to novel treatments for such devastating, and often treatment-resistant trauma and stress-disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sriya Bhattacharya
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Audrey Fontaine
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada.,Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique (ISIR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France
| | - Phillip E MacCallum
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - James Drover
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Jacqueline Blundell
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Braren SH, Perry RE, Ursache A, Blair C. Socioeconomic risk moderates the association between caregiver cortisol levels and infant cortisol reactivity to emotion induction at 24 months. Dev Psychobiol 2019; 61:573-591. [PMID: 30820941 PMCID: PMC6488391 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2018] [Revised: 01/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Relations between maternal baseline cortisol and infant cortisol reactivity to an emotion induction procedure at child ages 7, 15, and 24 months were analyzed using data from the Family Life Project (N = 1,292). The emotion induction consisted of a series of standardized and validated tasks, including an arm restraint, toy removal, and mask presentation, intended to elicit responses of fear and frustration. Results revealed that at 7 and 15 months, maternal baseline cortisol was negatively related to child cortisol reactivity, such that children of mothers with lower cortisol exhibited steeper cortisol increases in response to the emotion induction. At 24 months, the association between mother and infant cortisol was moderated by socioeconomic risk, such that maternal baseline cortisol was associated with child cortisol reactivity only in dyads characterized by low socioeconomic risk. Furthermore, at 24 months, children of mothers with low baseline cortisol and low socioeconomic risk exhibited decreasing cortisol responses, whereas children of mothers with low baseline cortisol but high risk exhibited flat cortisol responses. Children in dyads characterized by high baseline maternal cortisol also exhibited flat cortisol responses regardless of socioeconomic risk. The role of caregiver physiology in the regulation of the child's stress response in the context of adversity is discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephen H. Braren
- Department of Applied Psychology, 246 Greene Street, Kimball Hall, 8 Floor, New York University, New York, NY, 10012, United States
| | - Rosemarie E. Perry
- Department of Applied Psychology, 246 Greene Street, Kimball Hall, 8 Floor, New York University, New York, NY, 10012, United States
| | - Alexandra Ursache
- Department of Population Health, 227 East 30th Street, 7 Floor, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, United States
| | - Clancy Blair
- Department of Applied Psychology, 246 Greene Street, Kimball Hall, 8 Floor, New York University, New York, NY, 10012, United States
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Abstract
AbstractEmotion dysregulation is defined as patterns of emotional experience or expression that interfere with goal-directed activity. This paper considers this functionalist definition from a developmental perspective with the goal of elaborating this approach with respect to its central questions. What are the goals that are impeded by emotionally dysregulated responding, and what alternative goals might motivate emotion dysregulation? What are the developmental processes by which these goals take shape, and what are the influences of the family context, and especially of central relationships in the family, in their emergence? How does this functionalist account address the complex interaction of experience and developing biological processes that also influence emotion regulation and dysregulation? Drawing on research literature concerning children at risk for affective psychopathology and considering relevant examples of the interaction of biology and context, this discussion offers a portrayal of emotion dysregulation as a biologically dynamic, experience-based aspect of adaptation to environments and relationships that, in conditions of risk for the emergence of developmental psychopathology, motivates patterns of emotional responding that serve immediate coping often at the cost of long-term maladaptation. Implications for emotions theory and the study of developmental psychopathology are also considered.
Collapse
|
21
|
Parade SH, Newland RP, Bublitz MH, Stroud LR. Maternal witness to intimate partner violence during childhood and prenatal family functioning alter newborn cortisol reactivity. Stress 2019; 22:190-199. [PMID: 30676172 PMCID: PMC6685200 DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2018.1501019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) during childhood is a risk factor for mental health problems across the lifespan. Less is known about the intergenerational consequences of witnessing IPV, and if the current family climate buffers intergenerational effects of witnessing violence. The mother's experience of witnessing IPV against her own mother during childhood, prenatal family dysfunction, and prenatal perceived stress were examined as predictors of offspring cortisol in the first month of life (N = 218 mother-infant dyads). Mothers reported on witnessing IPV in their childhoods, prenatal family dysfunction, and prenatal perceived stress in pregnancy. At 2 days and again at 1 month postpartum, infants engaged in a neurobehavioral exam to assess infant cortisol reactivity. Infants whose mothers witnessed IPV in childhood exhibited alterations in their baseline cortisol and their cortisol reactivity at 1 month of age, whereas family dysfunction during pregnancy was associated with baseline cortisol and cortisol reactivity at 2 days of age. Prenatal perceived stress was not associated with infant cortisol at 2 days or 1 month. Prenatal family dysfunction and perceived stress did not moderate effects of the mother's experience of witnessing IPV. Results support the view that maternal experiences in childhood and during pregnancy exert intergenerational effects on the HPA stress response system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie H. Parade
- Bradley Research Center, E.P. Bradley Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University
| | - Rebecca P. Newland
- Bradley Research Center, E.P. Bradley Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University
| | - Margaret H. Bublitz
- Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, The Miriam Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University
| | - Laura R. Stroud
- Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, The Miriam Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Hibel LC, Trumbell JM, Valentino K, Buhler-Wassmann AC. Ecologically salient stressors and supports and the coordination of cortisol and salivary alpha-amylase in mothers and infants. Physiol Behav 2018; 195:48-57. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2018] [Revised: 07/19/2018] [Accepted: 07/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
23
|
Kim SY, Zhang M, Zeiders KH, Sim L, Gleason MEJ. Acute salivary cortisol response among Mexican American adolescents in immigrant families. CULTURAL DIVERSITY & ETHNIC MINORITY PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 24:510-520. [PMID: 30058831 PMCID: PMC6188823 DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Though previous research has indicated that language brokering can be stressful, the findings are mixed, pointing to potential moderators of the association. Guided by an ecological perspective, we examined the role of individual, family, and environmental factors in Mexican American adolescents' acute cortisol responses to language brokering. METHOD The study consisted of 46 Mexican American adolescents recruited around a metropolitan city in Central Texas. Participants translated a difficult medical document from English to Spanish for their parents, followed by an arithmetic task (modeled after the Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]). Participants' perceptions (perceived efficacy and parental dependence), parental hostility, and discrimination experiences were assessed via self-report and were examined as moderators of adolescents' responses to the task. RESULTS Results revealed differential responses to the task based on individual, family, and environmental factors. High efficacy and low dependence-parental hostility-discrimination related to stress responses characterized by low baselines, steeper reactivity, and faster recovery. Low efficacy and high dependence related to greater baseline stress and a slower recovery. High levels of parental hostility related to a slower recovery. High levels of discrimination related to greater baseline stress. CONCLUSIONS The study demonstrates that the modified TSST task can elicit an acute hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response, but the nature of this response is dependent upon participants' perceptions of language brokering (parental dependence and efficacy), parental hostility, and discrimination experiences. Adolescents' individual characteristics and contextual demands remain important considerations in understanding their acute stress responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Su Yeong Kim
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Minyu Zhang
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin
| | | | - Lester Sim
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan
| | - Marci E. J. Gleason
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Kuhlman KR, Repetti RL, Reynolds BM, Robles TF. Interparental conflict and child HPA-axis responses to acute stress: Insights using intensive repeated measures. JOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY : JFP : JOURNAL OF THE DIVISION OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (DIVISION 43) 2018; 32:773-782. [PMID: 29927288 PMCID: PMC6126984 DOI: 10.1037/fam0000437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Interparental conflict is a common source of psychosocial stress in the lives of children. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between recent interparental conflict and one component of the physiological stress response system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis. Parents of 42 children (ages 8-13 years) completed daily diaries of interparental conflict for 8 weeks. At the end of the 8 weeks, youth participated in the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) while providing 2 pre- and 4 poststress salivary cortisol samples. Youth whose fathers reported a pattern of increasing interparental conflict over the past 8 weeks demonstrated an exaggerated HPA-axis response to acute stress. Mother-reported interparental conflict was not associated with children's HPA-axis responses without accounting for fathers' reports. When accounting for fathers' reports, the offspring of mothers reporting higher average daily interparental conflict demonstrated an attenuated HPA-axis response to the stressor. By estimating both average exposure and recent patterns of change in exposure to conflict, we address the circumstances that may prompt attenuation versus sensitization of the HPA-axis in the context of interparental conflict. We conclude that the HPA-axis is sensitive to proximal increases in interparental conflict which may be one pathway through which stress affects health across development, and that incorporating father's reports is important to understanding the role of the family environment in stress responses. This study further demonstrates the value of using intensive repeated measures and multiple reporters to characterize children's psychosocial environment. (PsycINFO Database Record
Collapse
|
25
|
Koss KJ, Gunnar MR. Annual Research Review: Early adversity, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, and child psychopathology. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2018; 59:327-346. [PMID: 28714126 PMCID: PMC5771995 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 243] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Research on early adversity, stress biology, and child development has grown exponentially in recent years. FINDINGS We review the current evidence for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis as a stress-mediating mechanism between various forms of childhood adversity and psychopathology. We begin with a review of the neurobiology of the axis and evidence for relations between early adversity-HPA axis activity and HPA axis activity-psychopathology, as well as discuss the role of regulatory mechanisms and sensitive periods in development. CONCLUSIONS We call attention to critical gaps in the literature to highlight next steps in this research including focus on developmental timing, sex differences, stress buffering, and epigenetic regulation. A better understanding of individual differences in the adversity-HPA axis-psychopathology associations will require continued work addressing how multiple biological and behavioral systems work in concert to shape development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kalsea J. Koss
- Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Office of Population Research, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton, Princeton University, NJ, USA
| | - Megan R. Gunnar
- Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Office of Population Research, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton, Princeton University, NJ, USA
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Basal and reactivity levels of cortisol in one-month-old infants born to overweight or obese mothers from an ethnically and racially diverse, low-income community sample. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018; 88:115-120. [PMID: 29223002 PMCID: PMC6031312 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Revised: 11/30/2017] [Accepted: 12/01/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Establishing typical values of the steroid hormone cortisol at rest and after challenge is critical for understanding how environmental factors impact stress regulation and overall development, beginning at birth. Yet most extant samples are small or based upon low-risk populations, and few studies address the potential role of maternal weight during pregnancy in their study designs or sampling strategy. Here we report basal and reactivity levels of salivary cortisol within a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 132 infants approximately one month of age (Age in days: M=37.61, SD=7.27) born to lower income overweight or obese mothers. Reactivity was assessed in response to a multi-domain infant stressor paradigm, which included assessment via the Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) system and extensive anthropometric measurements. Sample means for basal, post stressors, and reactivity to the NBO were significantly lower than those reported in reviews of low-risk samples. Parity was associated with cortisol levels such that first-born infants had lower resting cortisol and higher reactivity than infants born to multiparous women. Latino infants had lower basal cortisol. No other demographic characteristics significantly predicted cortisol. The variability in cortisol levels present in this sample suggests that considerable psychophysiological diversity may exist in samples of low-SES or high-risk participants. Findings provide useful ranges for samples of racially and ethnically diverse newborns from low-income families.
Collapse
|
27
|
Gonzalez A, Catherine N, Boyle M, Jack SM, Atkinson L, Kobor M, Sheehan D, Tonmyr L, Waddell C, MacMillan HL. Healthy Foundations Study: a randomised controlled trial to evaluate biological embedding of early-life experiences. BMJ Open 2018; 8:e018915. [PMID: 29374668 PMCID: PMC5829768 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Adverse early experiences are associated with long-lasting disruptions in physiology, development and health. These experiences may be 'biologically embedded' into molecular and genomic systems that determine later expressions of vulnerability. Most studies to date have not examined whether preventive interventions can potentially reverse biological embedding. The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is an evidence-based intervention with demonstrated efficacy in improving prenatal health, parenting and child functioning. The Healthy Foundations Study is an innovative birth cohort which will evaluate the impact of the NFP on biological outcomes of mothers and their infants. METHODS AND ANALYSIS Starting in 2013, up to 400 pregnant mothers and their newborns were recruited from the British Columbia Healthy Connections Project-a randomised controlled trial of the NFP, and will be followed to child aged 2 years. Women were recruited prior to 28 weeks' gestation and then individually randomised to receive existing services (comparison group) or NFP plus existing services (intervention group). Hair samples are collected from mothers at baseline and 2 months post partum to measure physiological stress. Saliva samples are collected from infants during all visits for analyses of stress and immune function. Buccal swabs are collected from infants at 2 and 24 months to assess DNA methylation. Biological samples will be related to child outcome measures at age 2 years. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION The study received ethical approval from seven research ethics boards. Findings from this study will be shared broadly with the research community through peer-reviewed publications, and conference presentations, as well as seminars with our policy partners and relevant healthcare providers. The outcomes of this study will provide all stakeholders with important information regarding how early adversity may lead to health and behavioural disparities and how these may be altered through early interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT01672060; Pre-results.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Gonzalez
- Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Nicole Catherine
- Children’s Health Policy Centre, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Michael Boyle
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Susan M Jack
- Department of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Leslie Atkinson
- Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michael Kobor
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Debbie Sheehan
- Children’s Health Policy Centre, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Lil Tonmyr
- Family Violence Surveillance, Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Charlotte Waddell
- Psychiatry Department, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Harriet L MacMillan
- Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Hibel LC, Mercado E. Marital Conflict Predicts Mother-to-Infant Adrenocortical Transmission. Child Dev 2017; 90:e80-e95. [PMID: 29266194 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Employing an experimental design, mother-to-infant transmission of stress was examined. Mothers (N = 117) were randomized to either have a positive or conflictual discussion with their marital partners, after which infants (age = 6 months) participated in a fear and frustration task. Saliva samples were collected to assess maternal cortisol responses to the discussion and infant cortisol responses to the challenge task. Results indicate maternal cortisol reactivity and recovery to the conflict (but not positive) discussion predicted infant cortisol reactivity to the infant challenge. Mothers' positive affect during the discussion buffered, and intrusion during the free-play potentiated, mother-to-infant adrenocortical transmission. These findings advance our understanding of the social and contextual regulation of adrenocortical activity in early childhood.
Collapse
|
29
|
Jensen TM, Harris KM. A Longitudinal Analysis of Stepfamily Relationship Quality and Adolescent Physical Health. J Adolesc Health 2017; 61:486-492. [PMID: 28732714 PMCID: PMC5646364 DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.04.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Revised: 04/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Approximately one third of youth are estimated to live with a biological parent and stepparent before reaching adulthood. Additional research is warranted whereby stepfamily processes are identified that drive variation in youth adjustment, particularly physical health. We examined stepfather-child, mother-child, and stepcouple relationship quality as predictors of levels and changes in adolescent physical health over time. METHODS We used a nationally representative sample of 1,233 adolescents living in biological mother-stepfather families from waves I (1994-1995) and II (1996) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. We incorporated measures of stepfather-child, mother-child, and stepcouple relationship quality, as well as adolescent reports of 10 physical health symptoms at waves I and II. Structural equation modeling was used to examine associations between wave I stepfamily relationships and adolescent physical symptoms at waves I and II. We used a zero-inflated negative binomial model to establish the validity of wave II adolescent physical symptoms as a predictor of an index of diagnosed chronic illnesses by wave IV (ages 26-32 years). RESULTS Stepfather-child and mother-child relationship quality were negatively correlated with concurrent levels of adolescent physical symptoms. Stepfather-child relationship quality was negatively associated with change in adolescent physical symptoms over time. Adolescents with higher levels of physical symptoms at wave II were more likely to report chronic illnesses by adulthood. CONCLUSIONS Stepfather-child relationship quality is a robust predictor of adolescent physical health throughout adolescence and is linked to chronic illness diagnoses in young adulthood. Future research should explore further the mechanisms that underlie this association.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Todd M Jensen
- School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
| | - Kathleen Mullan Harris
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Martin MJ, Sturge-Apple ML, Davies PT, Romero CV. Mothers' implicit appraisals of their adolescents as unlovable: Explanatory factor linking family conflict and harsh parenting. Dev Psychol 2017; 53:1344-1355. [PMID: 28459256 DOI: 10.1037/dev0000334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
This study examined the consequences of negative change in mothers' implicit appraisals of their adolescents after engaging in a family disagreement. Participants included 194 mothers and their early adolescents (Mage = 12.4 at Wave 1; 50% female) followed over 1 year. Mothers' implicit appraisals of her child as "unlovable" were assessed using the Go/No-Go Association Task-Child (Sturge-Apple, Rogge, Skibo, et al., 2015), an associative word-sorting task, before and after engaging in a family conflict task. Mothers' implicit appraisals, on average, did not become more negative following conflicts with their teen. However, substantial variability was evident, suggesting that important individual differences exist in mothers' cognitive reactivity to conflict. Greater susceptibility to implicit change predicted more harsh and insensitive parenting in response to their adolescents' bids for support 1 year later. This effect held over and above mothers' emotional reactivity to the conflict, their explicit negative attitudes about their adolescent, and maternal harshness at Time 1. Harsh and insensitive parenting, in turn, mediated the link between maternal implicit reactivity and subsequent increases in adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems. The results suggest that individual differences in maternal susceptibility to changes in implicit appraisals following conflictual interactions serve as a unique determinant of parenting in adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Meredith J Martin
- Department of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
| | | | - Patrick T Davies
- Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester
| | - Christine V Romero
- Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Fearon RMP, Tomlinson M, Kumsta R, Skeen S, Murray L, Cooper PJ, Morgan B. Poverty, early care, and stress reactivity in adolescence: Findings from a prospective, longitudinal study in South Africa. Dev Psychopathol 2017; 29:449-464. [PMID: 28401838 PMCID: PMC5659183 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579417000104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
A considerable body of evidence suggests that early caregiving may affect the short-term functioning and longer term development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. Despite this, most research to date has been cross-sectional in nature or restricted to relatively short-term longitudinal follow-ups. More important, there is a paucity of research on the role of caregiving in low- and middle-income countries, where the protective effects of high-quality care in buffering the child's developing stress regulation systems may be crucial. In this paper, we report findings from a longitudinal study (N = 232) conducted in an impoverished periurban settlement in Cape Town, South Africa. We measured caregiving sensitivity and security of attachment in infancy and followed children up at age 13 years, when we conducted assessments of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical axis reactivity, as indexed by salivary cortisol during the Trier Social Stress Test. The findings indicated that insecure attachment was predictive of reduced cortisol responses to social stress, particularly in boys, and that attachment status moderated the impact of contextual adversity on stress responses: secure children in highly adverse circumstances did not show the blunted cortisol response shown by their insecure counterparts. Some evidence was found that sensitivity of care in infancy was also associated with cortisol reactivity, but in this case, insensitivity was associated with heightened cortisol reactivity, and only for girls. The discussion focuses on the potentially important role of caregiving in the long-term calibration of the stress system and the need to better understand the social and biological mechanisms shaping the stress response across development in low- and middle-income countries.
Collapse
|
32
|
The mediating roles of cortisol reactivity and executive functioning difficulties in the pathways between childhood histories of emotional insecurity and adolescent school problems. Dev Psychopathol 2017; 29:1483-1498. [PMID: 28397610 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579417000402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
This study tested a hypothesized cascade in which children's insecure representations of the interparental relationship increase their school problems by altering children's cortisol reactivity to stress and their executive functioning. Participants included 235 families. The first of five measurement occasions occurred when the children were in kindergarten (M age = 6 years), and they were followed through the transition to high school. The results indicated that children's histories of insecure representations of the interparental relationship during the early school years were associated with executive functioning difficulties in adolescence (M age = 14 years). This in turn predicted subsequent increases in school adjustment difficulties 1 year later. In addition, elevated cortisol reactivity to interadult conflict mediated the association between early histories of insecurity and subsequent executive function problems in adolescence.
Collapse
|
33
|
Cordero MI, Moser DA, Manini A, Suardi F, Sancho-Rossignol A, Torrisi R, Rossier MF, Ansermet F, Dayer AG, Rusconi-Serpa S, Schechter DS. Effects of interpersonal violence-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on mother and child diurnal cortisol rhythm and cortisol reactivity to a laboratory stressor involving separation. Horm Behav 2017; 90:15-24. [PMID: 28189641 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2016] [Revised: 12/23/2016] [Accepted: 02/05/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Women who have experienced interpersonal violence (IPV) are at a higher risk to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and impaired social behavior. Previously, we had reported impaired maternal sensitivity and increased difficulty in identifying emotions (i.e. alexithymia) among IPV-PTSD mothers. One of the aims of the present study was to examine maternal IPV-PTSD salivary cortisol levels diurnally and reactive to their child's distress in relation to maternal alexithymia. Given that mother-child interaction during infancy and early childhood has important long-term consequences on the stress response system, toddlers' cortisol levels were assessed during the day and in response to a laboratory stressor. Mothers collected their own and their 12-48month-old toddlers' salivary samples at home three times: 30min after waking up, between 2-3pm and at bedtime. Moreover, mother-child dyads participated in a 120-min laboratory session, consisting of 3 phases: baseline, stress situation (involving mother-child separation and exposure to novelty) and a 60-min regulation phase. Compared to non-PTSD controls, IPV-PTSD mothers - but not their toddlers, had lower morning cortisol and higher bedtime cortisol levels. As expected, IPV-PTSD mothers and their children showed blunted cortisol reactivity to the laboratory stressor. Maternal cortisol levels were negatively correlated to difficulty in identifying emotions. Our data highlights PTSD-IPV-related alterations in the HPA system and its relevance to maternal behavior. Toddlers of IPV-PTSD mothers also showed an altered pattern of cortisol reactivity to stress that potentially may predispose them to later psychological disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria I Cordero
- Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK; Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Dominik A Moser
- Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Aurelia Manini
- Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Francesca Suardi
- Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Ana Sancho-Rossignol
- Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Raffaella Torrisi
- Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Michel F Rossier
- Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology Service, Hôpital du Valais, Sion, Switzerland
| | - François Ansermet
- Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Alexandre G Dayer
- Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sandra Rusconi-Serpa
- Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Daniel S Schechter
- Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University of Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Division of Developmental Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Poverty-Related Adversity and Emotion Regulation Predict Internalizing Behavior Problems among Low-Income Children Ages 8-11. Behav Sci (Basel) 2016; 7:bs7010002. [PMID: 28036091 PMCID: PMC5371746 DOI: 10.3390/bs7010002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2016] [Revised: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 12/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The current study examines the additive and joint roles of chronic poverty-related adversity and three candidate neurocognitive processes of emotion regulation (ER)-including: (i) attention bias to threat (ABT); (ii) accuracy of facial emotion appraisal (FEA); and (iii) negative affect (NA)-for low-income, ethnic minority children's internalizing problems (N = 338). Children were enrolled in the current study from publicly funded preschools, with poverty-related adversity assessed at multiple time points from early to middle childhood. Field-based administration of neurocognitively-informed assessments of ABT, FEA and NA as well as parental report of internalizing symptoms were collected when children were ages 8-11, 6 years after baseline. Results suggest that chronic exposure to poverty-related adversity from early to middle childhood predicted higher levels of internalizing symptomatology when children are ages 8-11, even after controlling for initial poverty status and early internalizing symptoms in preschool. Moreover, each of the 3 hypothesized components of ER played an independent and statistically significant role in predicting children's parent-reported internalizing symptoms at the 6-year follow-up, even after controlling for early and chronic poverty-related adversity.
Collapse
|
35
|
Pinto RJ, Correia-Santos P, Costa-Leite J, Levendosky AA, Jongenelen I. Cortisol awakening response among women exposed to intimate partner violence. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2016; 74:57-64. [PMID: 27587076 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2016] [Revised: 08/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/24/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
The studies of the effects of intimate partner violence (IPV) on the cortisol awakening response (CAR) are scarce and contradictory. While some of the studies suggested that female victims of IPV showed high CAR, other studies found low CAR. Mixed results may be related to differences in sample characteristics as well as other potential covariates associated with the cortisol, as femalés history of abuse, chronicity, severity and type of IPV, psychological distress, posttraumatic stress disorder, and social support. The study examined individual differences in CAR among 149 female victims of severe IPV reported to authorities, including 76 (51%) living in shelter and 73 (49%) living with the abusive partners. Results revealed several individual differences in CAR that may contribute to understanding the mixed results found in literature, including women with cortisol that decreased between the baseline and 30min later, women with no increase of cortisol, and women whose cortisol increased above baseline. Additionally, women without CAR experienced more chronic and severe violence, more psychological distress and PTSD symptoms. However, hierarchical multiple regression indicated that chronic severe violence was the only independent variable that significantly explained 13% of the variance in CAR, even after including all covariates in the model, and adjusting for sociodemographic variables. In conclusion, this study suggests that the HPA axis dysregulation is influenced by chronic severe violence among women victims of IPV.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo J Pinto
- Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sports, University Lusófona of Porto, Rua Augusto Rosa, n° 24, Porto 4000-098, Portugal.
| | - Patrícia Correia-Santos
- Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sports, University Lusófona of Porto, Rua Augusto Rosa, n° 24, Porto 4000-098, Portugal
| | - Joana Costa-Leite
- Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sports, University Lusófona of Porto, Rua Augusto Rosa, n° 24, Porto 4000-098, Portugal
| | - Alytia A Levendosky
- Psychology Department, Michigan State University, US, Psychology Building 316 Physics Rm 262 East Lansing, MI 48824, United States
| | - Inês Jongenelen
- Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sports, University Lusófona of Porto, Rua Augusto Rosa, n° 24, Porto 4000-098, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Mills-Koonce WR, Willoughby MT, Garrett-Peters P, Wagner N, Vernon-Feagans L. The interplay among socioeconomic status, household chaos, and parenting in the prediction of child conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors. Dev Psychopathol 2016; 28:757-71. [PMID: 27427804 PMCID: PMC7557921 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579416000298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Child conduct problems (CP) reflect a heterogeneous collection of oppositional, aggressive, norm-violating, and sometimes violent behaviors, whereas child callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors reflect interpersonal styles of interactions reflecting a lack of guilt and empathy as well as uncaring and shallow emotional responses to others. Taken together, high levels of child CP and CU behaviors are thought to identify a relatively homogenous group of children at elevated risk for persistent and more severe problem behaviors across childhood and into adulthood. Although a large body of research has examined the developmental etiology of CP behaviors, only recently has a developmental psychopathology approach been applied to early CU behaviors. The current study examines multiple levels of contextual influences during the first years of life, including family socioeconomic status, household chaos, and parenting behaviors, on CP and CU behaviors assessed during the first-grade year. Whereas previous studies found associations between parenting behaviors and child problem behaviors moderated by household chaos, the current study found no evidence of moderation. However, path analyses suggest that the associations between child CP and CU behaviors and the contextual variables of socioeconomic status (family income and parental education) and household chaos (disorganization and instability) were mediated by maternal sensitive and harsh-intrusive parenting behavior. Analyses are presented, interpreted, and discussed with respect to both bioecological and family stress models of development.
Collapse
|
37
|
Family instability and children's effortful control in the context of poverty: Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Dev Psychopathol 2016; 29:685-696. [PMID: 27580955 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579416000407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Effortful control has been demonstrated to have important ramifications for children's self-regulation and social-emotional adjustment. However, there are wide socioeconomic disparities in children's effortful control, with impoverished children displaying heightened difficulties. The current study was designed to demonstrate how instability within the proximal rearing context of young children may serve as a key operant on the development of children's effortful control in the context of poverty. Two separate studies were conducted that included samples of children living within homes characterized by heightened economic risk. In Study 1, we tested the differential prediction of family instability on two domains of children's effortful control: cool effortful control and delay control. Consistent with hypotheses, elevated instability was associated with decreased hot effortful control but not cool effortful control over the span of 2 years. In Study 2, we examined how children's basal cortisol activity may account for associations between heightened instability and effortful control in reward tasks. The results were consistent with sensitization models, suggesting that elevated cortisol activity arising from increased uncertainty and unpredictability in rearing contexts may influence children's hot effortful control. The findings are interpreted within emerging evolutionary-developmental frameworks of child development.
Collapse
|
38
|
Mechanisms of change: Testing how preventative interventions impact psychological and physiological stress functioning in mothers in neglectful families. Dev Psychopathol 2016; 27:1661-74. [PMID: 26535951 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579415001017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The present study applies a multilevel approach to an examination of the effect of two randomized preventive interventions with mothers in neglectful families who are also contending with elevated levels of impoverishment and ecological risk. Specifically, we examined how participation in either child-parent psychotherapy (CPP) or psychoeducational parenting intervention (PPI) was associated with reductions in maternal psychological parenting stress and in turn physiological stress system functioning when compared to mothers involved in standard community services as well as a demographic comparison group of nonmaltreating mothers. The resulting group sizes in the current investigation were 44 for CPP, 34 for PPI, 27 for community services, and 52 for nonmaltreating mothers. Mothers and their 13-month-old infants were randomly assigned to intervention group at baseline. Mothers completed assessments on stress within the parenting role at baseline and postintervention. Basal cortisol was sampled at postintervention and 1-year follow-up. Latent difference score analyses examined change in these constructs over time. Results suggested that mothers within the CPP intervention experienced significant declines in child-related parenting stress, while mothers in the PPI intervention reported declines in parent-related parenting stress. In turn, significant decreases in stress within the CPP mothers were further associated with adaptive basal cortisol functioning at 1-year postintervention. The results highlight the value of delineating how participation in preventive interventions aimed at ameliorating child maltreatment in neglectful families within the context of poverty may operate through improvements in psychological and physiological stress functioning. Findings are discussed with respect to the importance of multilevel assessments of intervention process and outcome.
Collapse
|
39
|
Lippold MA, McHale SM, Davis KD, Almeida DM, King RB. Experiences With Parents and Youth Physical Health Symptoms and Cortisol: A Daily Diary Investigation. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE 2016; 26:226-240. [PMID: 27231418 PMCID: PMC4876874 DOI: 10.1111/jora.12186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Using daily diary data, this study examined the associations between positive and negative parent-youth experiences and youth cortisol and physical health symptoms among a sample of adolescents (N=132, Mean Age = 13.39). On days when girls reported more negative experiences than usual, they exhibited more physical health symptoms and flatter evening cortisol slopes than usual. Negative experiences with mothers were associated with higher dinner and bedtime youth cortisol levels (between-person). Daily positive experiences with fathers were linked with lower dinner cortisol levels. Youth with high levels of negative experiences, on average, were less sensitive to daily variation in negative experiences than youth who experienced lower parental negativity. We discuss the benefits of a daily diary approach.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Melissa A. Lippold
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building, 325 Pittsboro St CB#3550, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3550
| | - Susan M. McHale
- The Pennsylvania State University, 114 Henderson (North), University Park PA 16802
| | - Kelly D. Davis
- Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, The Pennsylvania State University, 135 E. Nittany Avenue, Suite 402, State College, PA 16801
| | - David M. Almeida
- The Pennsylvania State University, 403 BBH Building, University Park, PA 16802
| | - Rosalind B. King
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Health Scientist Administrator Population Dynamics Branch, 6100 Executive Blvd., Room 8B07, MSC 7510, Bethesda, MD 20892-7510
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Doan SN, Tardif T, Miller A, Olson S, Kessler D, Felt B, Wang L. Consequences of 'tiger' parenting: a cross-cultural study of maternal psychological control and children's cortisol stress response. Dev Sci 2016; 20. [PMID: 27146549 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2014] [Accepted: 12/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Parenting strategies involving psychological control are associated with increased adjustment problems in children. However, no research has examined the extent to which culture and psychological control predict children's stress physiology. We examine cultural differences in maternal psychological control and its associations with children's cortisol. Chinese (N = 59) and American (N = 45) mother-child dyads participated in the study. Mothers reported on psychological control. Children's cortisol was collected during a stressor and two indices of Area Under the Curve (AUC) were computed: AUCg which accounts for total output, and AUCi, which captures reactivity. Results indicate that Chinese mothers reported higher levels of psychological control and Chinese children had higher levels of AUCg than their American counterparts. Across both cultures, psychological control was significantly associated with increased cortisol levels as indexed by AUCg. There were no associations for AUCi. Finally, mediation analyses demonstrated that psychological control fully explained cultural differences in children's cortisol stress response as indexed by AUCg.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stacey N Doan
- Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College, USA
| | - Twila Tardif
- School of Public Health, University of Michigan, USA
| | - Alison Miller
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, USA
| | - Sheryl Olson
- School of Public Health, University of Michigan, USA
| | - Daniel Kessler
- Departments of Psychiatry and Philosophy, University of Michigan, USA
| | - Barbara Felt
- Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan, USA
| | - Li Wang
- Department of Psychology and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, China
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Martin CG, Kim HK, Fisher PA. Differential sensitization of parenting on early adolescent cortisol: Moderation by profiles of maternal stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2016; 67:18-26. [PMID: 26859701 PMCID: PMC4820398 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.01.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2015] [Revised: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a critical component of the body's stress-response neurobiological system, and its development and functioning are shaped by the social environment. Much of our understanding of the effects of the caregiving environment on the HPA axis is based on (a) parenting in young children and (b) individual maternal stressors, such as depression. Yet, less is known about how parenting behaviors and maternal stressors interact to influence child cortisol regulation, particularly in older children. With an ethnically diverse sample of 199 mothers and their early adolescent children (M=11.00years; 54% female), a profile analytic approach was used to investigate how multiple phenotypes of maternal stress co-occur and moderate the relation between parenting behaviors and youths' diurnal cortisol rhythms. Latent profile analysis yielded 4 profiles: current parenting stress, concurrent parenting and childhood stress, childhood stress, and low stress. For mothers with the concurrent parenting and childhood stress profile, inconsistent discipline, poor parental supervision, and harsh caregiving behaviors each were related to flattened diurnal cortisol rhythms in their adolescents. For mothers with the current parenting stress and childhood stress profiles, their use of inconsistent discipline was associated with flattened diurnal cortisol rhythms in their adolescents. For mothers with the low stress profile, none of the parenting behaviors was related to their adolescents' cortisol regulation. Findings suggest that based on mothers' stress profile, parenting behaviors are differentially related to youths' diurnal cortisol rhythms. Implications for parenting interventions are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Hyoun K. Kim
- Oregon Social Learning Center, 10 Shelton McMurphey Blvd., Eugene, Oregon 97401, USA,Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Human Ecology, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 03722, South Korea
| | - Philip A. Fisher
- Department of Psychology, 1227 University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA,Oregon Social Learning Center, 10 Shelton McMurphey Blvd., Eugene, Oregon 97401, USA
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Vliegenthart J, Noppe G, van Rossum EFC, Koper JW, Raat H, van den Akker ELT. Socioeconomic status in children is associated with hair cortisol levels as a biological measure of chronic stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2016; 65:9-14. [PMID: 26708067 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.11.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2015] [Revised: 11/25/2015] [Accepted: 11/30/2015] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Low socioeconomic status (SES) may be associated with a high risk of lifestyle-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases. There is a strong association between parental SES, stress and indicators of child health and adult health outcome. The exact mechanisms underlying this association have not yet been fully clarified. Low SES may be associated with chronic stress, which may lead to activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis, resulting in a higher circulating level of the stress hormone cortisol. Therefore, chronic stress may mediate the association between low SES and elevated cortisol levels and its adverse outcomes. AIM We investigated whether SES was associated with a chronic measure of cortisol exposure in a child population. METHODS Cortisol and cortisone were measured in scalp hair in 270 children and adolescents, aged 4-18 years, enrolled through school visits. Neighborhood level SES was based on a score developed by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research using postal codes, and this includes neighborhood measures of income education and unemployment. Maternal and paternal education level were used as indicators of family SES. RESULTS Neighborhood level socioeconomic status score was significantly associated with hair cortisol (β=-0.103, p=0.007, 95%CI [-0.179, -0.028]) and hair cortisone (β=-0.091, p=0.023, 95%CI [-0.167, -0.015]), adjusted for age and sex. Additionally, hair cortisol was significantly correlated with maternal education level and hair cortisone was significantly correlated with paternal education level. CONCLUSION The results of our study suggest that the widely shown association between low family SES and adverse child health outcomes may be mediated by chronic stress, given the chronically higher levels of cortisol in children and adolescents in families with low SES. It is especially notable that the association between SES and cortisol was already found in children of young age as this can have major consequences, such as increased risk of cardio metabolic diseases in later life.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J Vliegenthart
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology, Sophia Children's Hospital, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - G Noppe
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology, Sophia Children's Hospital, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - E F C van Rossum
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - J W Koper
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - H Raat
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - E L T van den Akker
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology, Sophia Children's Hospital, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Howell KH, Barnes SE, Miller LE, Graham-Bermann SA. Developmental variations in the impact of intimate partner violence exposure during childhood. J Inj Violence Res 2016; 8:43-57. [PMID: 26804945 PMCID: PMC4729333 DOI: 10.5249/jivr.v8i1.663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2014] [Accepted: 07/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive problem impacting individuals around the globe. The consequences of IPV extend beyond the adults in the relationship, as children witness a significant proportion of such violence. Exposure to IPV during childhood has devastating effects across multiple domains of functioning. METHODS This article reviews empirical studies of the effects of exposure to IPV by developmental stage. RESULTS The psychological, social, physical, and cognitive consequences of witnessing IPV are examined across development; from the impact of prenatal exposure to effects in infancy and toddlerhood, the preschool years, school-aged children, and adolescence. CONCLUSIONS The review concludes by providing suggestions for future research based on the identified developmental variations, recommendations for developmentally-sensitive interventions for children who have witnessed IPV, and directions for policy to address the issue of violence exposure early in the lives of children.
Collapse
|
44
|
Levendosky AA, Bogat GA, Lonstein JS, Martinez-Torteya C, Muzik M, Granger DA, von Eye A. Infant adrenocortical reactivity and behavioral functioning: relation to early exposure to maternal intimate partner violence. Stress 2015; 19:37-44. [PMID: 26482431 PMCID: PMC5106761 DOI: 10.3109/10253890.2015.1108303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2015] [Revised: 07/18/2015] [Accepted: 09/17/2015] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Prenatal stress negatively affects fetal development, which in turn may affect infant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation and behavioral functioning. We examined effects of exposure to a traumatic stressor in families [intimate partner violence (IPV)] on both infants' HPA axis reactivity to stress and their internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Infants (n = 182, 50% girls, x age = 11.77 months) were exposed to a laboratory challenge task designed to induce frustration and anger (i.e. arm restraint). Saliva samples were taken pre-task and 20 and 40 min post-task and then assayed for cortisol. Mothers reported on their pregnancy and postpartum IPV history, current mental health, substance use and their infants' behaviors. Structural equation modeling revealed that prenatal, but not postnatal, IPV was independently associated with infant cortisol reactivity and problem behavior. Maternal mental health predicted infant behavioral functioning but not infant HPA axis reactivity. These findings are consistent with the prenatal programing hypothesis; that is, early life stress affects later risk and vulnerability for altered physiological and behavioral regulation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alytia A. Levendosky
- Department of Psychology, Psychology Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
| | - G. Anne Bogat
- Department of Psychology, Psychology Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
| | - Joseph S. Lonstein
- Department of Psychology, Psychology Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
- Department of Neuroscience Program, Psychology Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
| | | | - Maria Muzik
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, 4250 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5734
| | - Douglas A. Granger
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
| | - Alexander von Eye
- Department of Psychology, Psychology Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Martoccio TL, Brophy-Herb HE, Maupin AN, Robinson JL. Longitudinal pathways from early maternal depression to children’s dysregulated representations: a moderated mediation analysis of harsh parenting and gender. Attach Hum Dev 2015; 18:46-68. [DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2015.1111397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
|
46
|
Hostinar CE, Johnson AE, Gunnar MR. Early social deprivation and the social buffering of cortisol stress responses in late childhood: An experimental study. Dev Psychol 2015; 51:1597-608. [PMID: 26322485 DOI: 10.1037/dev0000029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
The goal of the present study was to investigate the role of early social deprivation in shaping the effectiveness of parent support to alleviate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis-stress responses of children (ages 8.9-11, M = 9.83 years, SD = .55). The sample was equally divided between children who had been adopted internationally from orphanage care by age 5 (n = 40) and an age- and gender-matched group of nonadopted (NA) children (n = 40). On average, internationally adopted children were invited to the laboratory 7.6 years postadoption (SD = 1.45). We experimentally manipulated the provision of parent support during the 5-min speech preparation period before a modified Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and examined its effect on levels of salivary cortisol secreted in response to this laboratory stressor. All participants were randomly assigned to receive support from their parent or a stranger. Analyses revealed a significant interaction of support condition and group such that parent support significantly dampened the cortisol-stress response in NA children compared with support from a stranger, whereas the cortisol response curves of postinstitutionalized (PI) children did not differ between the parent- and stranger-support conditions. Cortisol reactivity for PI children in both conditions was lower than that of NA children in the stranger-support condition. Social deprivation during the first few years of life may shape neurobehavioral development in ways that reduce selective responses to caregivers versus strangers.
Collapse
|
47
|
Blair C, Ursache A, Mills-Koonce R, Stifter C, Voegtline K, Granger DA. Emotional reactivity and parenting sensitivity interact to predict cortisol output in toddlers. Dev Psychol 2015; 51:1271-7. [PMID: 26192038 DOI: 10.1037/dev0000031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Cortisol output in response to emotion induction procedures was examined at child age 24 months in a prospective longitudinal sample of 1,292 children and families in predominantly low-income and nonurban communities in two regions of high poverty in the United States. Multilevel analysis indicated that observed emotional reactivity to a mask presentation but not a toy removal procedure interacted with sensitive parenting to predict cortisol levels in children. For children experiencing high levels of sensitive parenting, cortisol output was high among children exhibiting high emotional reactivity and low among children exhibiting low emotional reactivity. For children experiencing low levels of sensitive parenting, cortisol output was unrelated to emotional reactivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Clancy Blair
- Department of Applied Psychology, New York University
| | | | - Roger Mills-Koonce
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
| | | | - Kristin Voegtline
- Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
| | - Douglas A Granger
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, Arizona State University
| | | |
Collapse
|
48
|
Suor JH, Sturge-Apple ML, Davies PT, Cicchetti D, Manning LG. Tracing Differential Pathways of Risk: Associations Among Family Adversity, Cortisol, and Cognitive Functioning in Childhood. Child Dev 2015; 86:1142-1158. [PMID: 26081792 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Guided by family risk and allostasis theoretical frameworks, the present study utilized a prospective longitudinal design to examine associations among family risk experiences, basal cortisol patterns, and cognitive functioning in children. The sample included 201 low-income children living within a midsize city in the Northeastern United States. Children were assessed at ages 2, 3, and 4 years. Growth-mixture modeling analyses revealed three basal cortisol patterns (elevated, moderate, low) and these remained relatively stable across time. Exposure to greater levels of family instability and maternal unresponsiveness predicted elevated and low cortisol patterns, which were associated with lower child cognitive functioning at age 4. Findings have implications for family risk processes that may underlie risk-related disparities in child cognitive outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Dante Cicchetti
- Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, and Mt. Hope Family Center
| | | |
Collapse
|
49
|
Abstract
Emotional security theory (EST), initially proposed as a process model for understanding relations between marital conflict and child development, has been empirically tested and validated in numerous studies over the past 20 years. This has demonstrated the relevance of children’s emotional security to consequent emotional and behavioral adjustment. Recently, investigations of EST have employed an exciting new range of multimethod processes that include biobehavioral and physiological evaluations. Together with a broadening of the ecological contexts in which EST is examined, EST research is making innovative strides in the study of process and context that promise to bring it to the forefront of social-ecological systems research.
Collapse
|
50
|
The influence of prenatal intimate partner violence exposure on hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis reactivity and childhood internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Dev Psychopathol 2015; 28:55-72. [DOI: 10.1017/s0954579415000280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
AbstractThis prospective longitudinal study examines the long-term influence of intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure in utero. We hypothesized that (a) prenatal IPV increases risk for internalizing and externalizing problems as well as for a profile of dysregulated cortisol reactivity, and (b) patterns of cortisol hyper- and hyporeactivity are differentially associated with internalizing and externalizing problems. The participants were 119 10-year-old children. Their mothers reported their IPV experiences and distress during pregnancy. Child and maternal reports of internalizing and externalizing problems as well as lifetime IPV exposure were obtained. Salivary cortisol was assessed at baseline, 20 min, and 40 min after challenge. The results partially supported our hypotheses: Exposure to IPV during pregnancy predicted child-reported internalizing and externalizing problems, mother ratings of child externalizing problems, and a profile of high cortisol secretion before and after stress challenge. The results were significant above and beyond the influence of maternal distress during pregnancy and IPV that occurred during the child's life. In addition, a profile of high cortisol secretion was associated with maternal reports of child internalizing behaviors. Findings support the growing consensus that prenatal stress can lead to lasting disruptions in adaptation and highlight the need for more longitudinal examinations of prenatal IPV exposure.
Collapse
|