Pubertal transition with current life stress and support alters longitudinal diurnal cortisol patterns in adolescents exposed to early life adversity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brie M. Reid ◽  
Carrie E. DePasquale ◽  
Bonny Donzella ◽  
Keira B. Leneman ◽  
Heather Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Diurnal Cortisol ◽  
Pubertal Transition

Experiences of adversity in childhood and adolescence and cortisol in late adolescence

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Courtenay L. Kessler ◽  
Suzanne Vrshek-Schallhorn ◽  
Susan Mineka ◽  
Richard E. Zinbarg ◽  
Michelle Craske ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Late Adolescence ◽  
Developmental Timing ◽  
Cortisol Awakening Response ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Childhood Adversities ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Diurnal Cortisol

Abstract Early life adversity influences the diurnal cortisol rhythm, yet the relative influence of different characteristics of adversity remains unknown. In this study, we examine how developmental timing (childhood vs. adolescence), severity (major vs. minor), and domain of early life adversity relate to diurnal cortisol rhythms in late adolescence. We assessed adversity retrospectively in early adulthood in a subsample of 236 participants from a longitudinal study of a diverse community sample of suburban adolescents oversampled for high neuroticism. We used multilevel modeling to assess associations between our adversity measures and the diurnal cortisol rhythm (waking and bedtime cortisol, awakening response, slope, and average cortisol). Major childhood adversities were associated with flatter daily slope, and minor adolescent adversities were associated with greater average daily cortisol. Examining domains of childhood adversities, major neglect and sexual abuse were associated with flatter slope and lower waking cortisol, with sexual abuse also associated with higher cortisol awakening response. Major physical abuse was associated with higher waking cortisol. Among adolescent adversities domains, minor neglect, emotional abuse, and witnessing violence were associated with greater average cortisol. These results suggest severity, developmental timing, and domain of adversity influence the association of early life adversity with stress response system functioning.

scholarly journals Maternal separation in rodents: a journey from gut to brain and nutritional perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Rincel ◽  
Muriel Darnaudéry
Keyword(s):  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Maternal Separation ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Critical Window ◽  
Beneficial Impact ◽  
The Impact

The developmental period constitutes a critical window of sensitivity to stress. Indeed, early-life adversity increases the risk to develop psychiatric diseases, but also gastrointestinal disorders such as the irritable bowel syndrome at adulthood. In the past decade, there has been huge interest in the gut–brain axis, especially as regards stress-related emotional behaviours. Animal models of early-life adversity, in particular, maternal separation (MS) in rodents, demonstrate lasting deleterious effects on both the gut and the brain. Here, we review the effects of MS on both systems with a focus on stress-related behaviours. In addition, we discuss more recent findings showing the impact of gut-directed interventions, including nutrition with pre- and probiotics, illustrating the role played by gut microbiota in mediating the long-term effects of MS. Overall, preclinical studies suggest that nutritional approaches with pro- and prebiotics may constitute safe and efficient strategies to attenuate the effects of early-life stress on the gut–brain axis. Further research is required to understand the complex mechanisms underlying gut–brain interaction dysfunctions after early-life stress as well as to determine the beneficial impact of gut-directed strategies in a context of early-life adversity in human subjects.

scholarly journals Early-Life Adversity and Dysregulation of Adult Diurnal Cortisol Rhythm

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun S Karlamangla ◽  
Sharon Stein Merkin ◽  
David M Almeida ◽  
Esther M Friedman ◽  
Jacqueline A Mogle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Dynamic Range ◽  
Family Welfare ◽  
Cortisol Secretion ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Diurnal Cortisol ◽  
Welfare Dependence ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Diurnal Dynamic

Abstract Objectives Exposure to life stresses can lead to diminution in the capacity of stress response systems to mount a robust response to new challenges, with blunting of dynamic range—the spread between maximal attainable and minimal resting levels. We investigate the association between early-life adversity and the dynamic range of adult diurnal cortisol secretion. Method In 35- to 86-year-old adults, cortisol assayed from 16 saliva samples over 4 consecutive days was used to compute diurnal dynamic range and area under the curve (AUC). Economic adversity in childhood was indexed by recalled parental education, family welfare dependence, and perceived financial status; and childhood social adversity by parental separation, death, and abuse. Results Adjusted for age, gender, and race/ethnicity, both childhood adversities were strongly associated with smaller adult cortisol diurnal dynamic range, but not with AUC. The association with cortisol dynamic range was explained by adult social and economic variables. Discussion Early-life adversity appears to leave a long-term imprint on cortisol secretion dynamics, reducing diurnal dynamic range without increasing total secretion. This points to the importance of examining the adaptation capacity of physiological systems when studying the impact of early-life and chronic stresses on adult health.

scholarly journals Hair glucocorticoids are associated with childhood adversity, depressive symptoms and reduced global and lobar grey matter in Generation Scotland

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Green ◽  
Aleks Stolicyn ◽  
Mathew A. Harris ◽  
Xueyi Shen ◽  
Liana Romaniuk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hpa Axis ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Brain Volumes ◽  
Stable Measure ◽  
Regional Brain ◽  
Generation Scotland

AbstractHypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation has been commonly reported in major depressive disorder (MDD), but with considerable heterogeneity of results; potentially due to the predominant use of acute measures of an inherently variable/phasic system. Chronic longer-term measures of HPA-axis activity have yet to be systematically examined in MDD, particularly in relation to brain phenotypes, and in the context of early-life/contemporaneous stress. Here, we utilise a temporally stable measure of cumulative HPA-axis function (hair glucocorticoids) to investigate associations between cortisol, cortisone and total glucocorticoids with concurrent measures of (i) lifetime-MDD case/control status and current symptom severity, (ii) early/current-life stress and (iii) structural neuroimaging phenotypes, in N = 993 individuals from Generation Scotland (mean age = 59.1 yrs). Increased levels of hair cortisol were significantly associated with reduced global and lobar brain volumes with reductions in the frontal, temporal and cingulate regions (βrange = −0.057 to −0.104, all PFDR < 0.05). Increased levels of hair cortisone were significantly associated with MDD (lifetime-MDD status, current symptoms, and severity; βrange = 0.071 to 0.115, all PFDR = < 0.05), with early-life adversity (β = 0.083, P = 0.017), and with reduced global and regional brain volumes (global: β = −0.059, P = 0.043; nucleus accumbens: β = −0.075, PFDR = 0.044). Associations with total glucocorticoids followed a similar pattern to the cortisol findings. In this large community-based sample, elevated glucocorticoids were significantly associated with MDD, with early, but not later-life stress, and with reduced global and regional brain phenotypes. These findings provide important foundations for future mechanistic studies to formally explore causal relationships between early adversity, chronic rather than acute measures of glucocorticoids, and neurobiological associations relevant to the aetiology of MDD.

scholarly journals Early maternal loss affects diurnal cortisol slopes in immature but not mature wild chimpanzees

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cédric Girard-Buttoz ◽  
Patrick J. Tkaczynski ◽  
Liran Samuni ◽  
Pawel Fedurek ◽  
Cristina Gomes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Hpa Axis ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Urinary Cortisol ◽  
Maternal Loss ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Diurnal Cortisol ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Cortisol Levels

AbstractIn mammals, early life adversity negatively affects survival and reproductive success. A key causal mechanism is proposed by the biological embedding model which posits that adversity experienced early in life has deleterious consequences on individual physiology across the lifespan. In particular, early life adversity is expected to be a severe stressor leading to long-term alteration of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Here we tested this idea by assessing whether, as in humans, maternal loss had short and long-term impacts on orphan chimpanzee urinary cortisol levels and diurnal urinary cortisol slopes, as an indicator of the HPA axis functioning. We used 18 years of data on 50 immature and 28 mature male wild chimpanzees belonging to four communities in Taï National Park, Ivory Coast. Immature orphans who experienced early maternal loss had diurnal cortisol slopes characterised by higher early morning and late afternoon cortisol levels indicative of high activation of the HPA axis. Recently orphaned immatures had higher cortisol levels than other immatures, possibly reflecting social and nutritional stress. However, unlike in humans, we did not find significantly different cortisol profiles in orphan and non-orphan adult male chimpanzees. Our study highlights that long-term alteration of stress physiology related to early life adversity may not be viable in some wild animal populations and/or that chimpanzees, as humans, may have access to mechanisms that buffer this physiological stress, such as adoption. Our results suggest that biological embedding of altered HPA axis function is unlikely to be a mechanism contributing to the demonstrated long-term fitness consequences of maternal loss, such as reduced reproductive success, in wild long-lived mammals.

scholarly journals Early life adversity, dispositional mindfulness, and longitudinal stress experience during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Benz ◽  
Maria Meier ◽  
Ulrike U. Bentele ◽  
Stephanie J. Dimitroff ◽  
Bernadette Denk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Stress Buffering ◽  
Psychopathological Symptoms ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
The Impact

Experiencing severe or prolonged stressors in early life is associated with increased risk for mental and physical disorders in adulthood. Further, individuals who experienced early life stress (ELS) may use dysfunctional coping strategies like stress-related eating, in contrast to more beneficial stress buffering mechanisms e.g. based on mindfulness. Whether these mechanisms contribute to increased levels of perceived stress and symptoms of mental disorders in individuals with ELS in times of crisis is yet unclear. As part of a larger project, we assessed changes in perceived stress and psychopathological symptoms in a sample of N=102 participants (81% female; meanage=23.49, SDage= 7.11, range 18–62) from October/December 2019 (prior to the Covid-19 pandemic) to April/June 2020 (after the German government introduced Covid-19 related restrictions). Additionally, we assessed ELS and dispositional mindfulness.Perceived stress and depression significantly increased while anxiety levels decreased. No significant change was observed for somatization. ELS and dispositional mindfulness were not associated with change scores, but with perceived stress and psychopathological symptoms at both assessments. The increase in perceived stress during the pandemic in a majority of participants demonstrates the impact of the pandemic in the general population.

Early-life adversity and dysregulation of adult diurnal cortisol rhythm

2019 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. S21
Author(s):  
Arun S. Karlamangla ◽  
Sharon Stein Merkin ◽  
David M. Almeida ◽  
Esther M. Friedman ◽  
Jacqueline A. Mogle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Diurnal Cortisol

Early life adversity potentiates the effects of later life stress on cumulative physiological dysregulation

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadya Dich ◽  
Åse Marie Hansen ◽  
Kirsten Avlund ◽  
Rikke Lund ◽  
Erik Lykke Mortensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Physiological Dysregulation
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