Abstract:
This study examined the role of sleep problems and sleep duration on stress-related HPA axis reactivity among urban, low income adolescents. A total of 84 adolescents (M age 13.36 years; 50% male; 95% African American) and their parents provided information on adolescents’ sleep problems and sleep quantity. Adolescents completed a standardized social stress test in the laboratory (the Trier Social Stress Test; TSST). Saliva samples collected before and after the TSST yielded measures of cortisol pre-test, 15 min post-test, and 55 min post-test, as well as overall cortisol secretion and its increase (AUCG and AUCI). More sleep problems and longer sleep duration predicted higher cortisol reactivity to the TSST, particularly among females. Self-reports of sleep were more consistently related to stress-related cortisol reactivity than parent reports. Sleep problems and longer sleep duration may place adolescents at risk for HPA axis hyper-reactivity to stress, contributing to academic, behavioral and health problems.
Portnoy, J., et al. (2015). Digit ratio (2D:4D) moderates the relationship between cortisol reactivity and self-reported externalizing behavior in young adolescent males. Biol Psychol. 112:94-106.
Abstract:
Although reduced cortisol reactivity to stress and increased circulating testosterone level are hypothesized to be associated with higher levels of externalizing behavior, empirical findings are inconsistent. One factor that may account for the heterogeneity in these relationships is prenatal testosterone exposure. This study examined whether the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), a putative marker of prenatal testosterone exposure, moderates the relationships of testosterone and cortisol reactivity with externalizing behavior. Left and right hand 2D:4D and self-reported externalizing behavior were measured in a sample of 353 young adolescents (M age=11.92 years; 178 females; 79.7% African American). Saliva samples were collected before and after a stress task and later assayed for cortisol. Testosterone levels were determined from an AM saliva sample. 2D:4D interacted with cortisol reactivity to predict externalizing behavior in males, but not females. In males, low cortisol reactivity was associated with higher levels of aggression and rule-breaking behavior, but only among subjects with low 2D:4D (i.e., high prenatal testosterone). Findings suggest the importance of a multi-systems approach in which interactions between multiple hormones are taken into account. Furthermore, results demonstrate the importance of considering the organizational influence of prenatal testosterone in order to understand the activational influence of circulating hormones during adolescence.
Matin, M. J., et al. (2015). Measuring nerve growth factor in saliva by immunoassay: A cautionary note. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 63:235-237.
Abstract:
Nerve growth factor (NGF), a neurotrophin, modulates a diverse set of physiologic processes in the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems. Studies suggest that NGF can be measured in saliva (sNGF). Historically, the method for measuring sNGF involves the off-label use of an enzyme immunoassay designed for use with cell-culture supernatants/tissue extracts (Nam et al., 2007; Ruhl et al., 2004). In a series of experiments we reveal this measurement strategy is subject to non-specific interference by constituents present in oral fluids. We conclude that the measurement of sNGF by this assay is not optimal for use with oral fluid specimens.
Bair-Merritt, M. H., et al. (2015). Maternal intimate partner violence exposure, child cortisol reactivity and child asthma. Child Abuse Negl. 48:50-7.
Abstract:
Psychosocial stressors like intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure are associated with increased risk of childhood asthma. Longitudinal studies have not investigated the role of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity (and associated alterations in cortisol release) in the child IPV exposure-asthma association. We sought to investigate this association, and to assess whether this relationship differs by child HPA reactivity. This secondary analysis used longitudinal cohort data from the Family Life Project. Participants included 1,292 low-income children and mothers; maternal interview and child biomarker data, including maternal report of IPV and child asthma, and child salivary cortisol obtained with validated stress reactivity paradigms, were collected when the child was 7, 15, 24, 35, and 48 months. Using structural equation modeling, maternal IPV when the child was 7 months of age predicted subsequent reports of childhood asthma (B=0.18, p=.002). This association differed according to the child’s HPA reactivity status, with IPV exposed children who were HPA reactors at 7 and 15 months of age – defined as a ≥10% increase in cortisol level twenty minutes post peak arousal during the challenge tasks and a raw increase of at least .02μg/dl – being significantly at risk for asthma (7 months: B=0.17, p=.02; 15 months: B=0.17, p=.02). Our findings provide support that children who are physiologically reactive are the most vulnerable to adverse health outcomes when faced with environmental stressors
Afifi, T. D., et al. (2015). The influence of divorce and parent’s communication skills on adolescents’ and young adults’ stress reactivity and recovery. Communication Research. 42, 1009-1042.
Abstract:
This study examined whether the impact of parents’ marital status (divorced/married) on children’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis (measured through salivary cortisol) and sympathic nervous system (SNS; measured through salivary alpha-amylase or sAA) response and recovery patterns was moderated by parents’ communication skills and the age of the child. One hundred eighteen parent–child (ages 15-22) dyads talked about something stressful related to the parents’ relationship. Children who thought their parents were more communicatively incompetent had higher pre-interaction sAA levels. In addition, children whose parents were communicatively skilled (i.e., socially supportive, communicatively competent, children felt less caught between them) were able to down regulate quickly after the discussion, regardless of the marital status of the parent and the age of the child. The results for sAA, and somewhat for cortisol, revealed that parents’ marital status and the age of the child were important in determining differences in children’s physiological response and recovery patterns only when parents were less communicatively skilled.
Keller, P. S., et al. (2015).Parental Problem Drinking is Associated with Children’s Adrenocortical Reactivity to Stress. Journal of Child and Family Studies. 24, 3145-3153.
Abstract:
The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis plays an important role in adaptation to stress, but is vulnerable to chronic stress exposure. Parental problem drinking (PPD) represents such a chronic stressor, but there has been little research on children’s HPA axis activity in the context of PPD. To address this gap, associations between PPD and children’s adrenocortical reactivity were examined, with marital aggression and child emotional security as potential intervening variables. Participants were 69 community families (children aged 6–12 years). Children provided saliva samples before and 20 min after a social stress test, which were assayed for cortisol. Parents reported on their problem drinking (PD) and marital aggression, and children reported on their emotional insecurity about the marital relationship. Mother PD was significantly related to greater adrenocortical reactivity in her offspring. Father PD was significantly related to children’s greater involvement in marital conflict, which was significantly related to greater adrenocortical reactivity. Findings therefore indicate that parental PD is related to greater sensitivity of the HPA axis to social stress, partially because of emotional insecurity.
Auer, B. J., et al. (2015). Common oxytocin receptor gene variant interacts with rejection sensitivity to influence cortisol reactivity during negative evaluation. Horm Behav. 51(9):1271-7.
Abstract:
The study tested the hypothesis that variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR rs53576) and self-report of rejection sensitivity are associated with adrenocortical reactivity to social stress. Participants (N=94; 36.17% male; Mage=20.18yrs; 62.8% Caucasian) completed a writing task on a salient problem in society, provided self-report via questionnaire of rejection sensitivity, and were then informed that a committee of peers would evaluate their written comments. Participants received either scripted praise or criticism as a way to induce social evaluative threat. Saliva was collected before and after the stress task and assayed for cortisol. Results revealed that cortisol levels increased in participants with moderate levels of social rejection sensitivity-inferred by rs53576 genotype and reported rejection sensitivity-while cortisol levels decreased in participants with high and low levels of social rejection sensitivity. Our findings suggest a curvilinear relationship between social rejection sensitivity and cortisol reactivity in the context of social rejection, warranting further consideration in future studies.
Blair, C., et al. (2015). Emotional reactivity and parenting sensitivity interact to predict cortisol output in toddlers. Dev Psychol. 20:1-31.
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.
Laurent, H.K., et al. (2015). Secretory IgA reactivity to social threat in youth: Relations with HPA, ANS, and behavior. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 9:81-90.
Abstract:
Although the role of immune marker secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) in stress-related health outcomes is gaining recognition, SIgA responsiveness to acute stress has rarely been assessed in adults, and not at all in children. This study was designed to clarify developmental origins of differential immune function-related health risks by investigating youth SIgA responses to psychosocial stressors, including both normative responses and variability related to behavioral problems. Children and adolescents from a larger study (n=82) gave 6 saliva samples during a laboratory session in which they were exposed to a series of performance or interpersonal stressors. Samples were assayed for SIgA, as well as cortisol (representing hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity) and alpha-amylase (sAA; representing autonomic nervous system activity). Behavioral problems were assessed with parent-report measures of youth internalizing and externalizing. Youth SIgA trajectories followed a normative pattern of reactivity and recovery around the stressors; however, these responses were blunted in youth with higher externalizing scores. SIgA showed differential associations with cortisol and sAA, and with positive and negative affect; whereas overall levels of SIgA related to cortisol output and positive affect, changes in SIgA over time synchronized with changes in sAA and negative affect. In contrast to SIgA, neither cortisol nor sAA related significantly to behavioral problems. Implications for the role of SIgA during psychosocial stress in the development of immune function-related health risks are discussed.
Keeshin, B.R., et al. (2015). Elevations in salivary alpha-amylase among sexual abuse victims with acute posttraumatic stress symptoms. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol. 25(4):344-50.
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE:
Little is known regarding neuroendocrine responses in adolescent girls with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who have experienced sexual abuse. Therefore, we collected saliva samples three times daily for 3 days to assess concentrations of salivary alpha amylase (sAA) – a surrogate marker for autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and, in particular, sympathetic activity – in sexually abused adolescent girls.
METHODS:
Twenty-four girls (mean age: 15±1.4 years) who had experienced recent sexual abuse (i.e., sexual abuse occurred 1-6 months prior to study enrollment) and 12 healthy comparison subjects (mean age: 14.8±1.3 years) completed a structured interview and assessments to ascertain symptoms of posttraumatic stress, then collected saliva at home upon awakening, 30 minutes after waking, and at 5 p.m. on three consecutive school days.
RESULTS:
For sexually abused girls, total PTSD symptoms were associated with higher overall morning levels of sAA (r[20]=0.51, p=0.02), a finding driven by intrusive symptoms (r[20]=0.43, p<0.05) and hyperarousal symptoms (r[20]=0.58, p=0.01). There were no significant differences in diurnal sAA secretion between the sexually abused girls and healthy comparison adolescents.
CONCLUSIONS:
Overall morning concentrations of sAA in sexually abused girls are associated with overall PTSD severity as well as symptoms of hyperarousal and intrusive symptoms, possibly reflecting symptom-linked increases in ANS tone. These data raise the possibility that alterations in ANS activity are related to the pathophysiology of sexual abuse-related PTSD in adolescent girls, and may inform therapeutic interventions (e.g., antiadrenergic medications).
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