Annual Research Review: Early adversity, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis, and child psychopathology

2017/07/17 by Kalsea J. Koss, Megan R. Gunnar · 33 citations
Neuroscience · Psychology · #Stress Responses and Cortisol #Mental Health Research Topics #Tryptophan and brain disorders

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12784

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.

Citations

• Cortisol and DHEA in development and psychopathology

Cited by

• The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on neurobiological functioning in adolescents
• Sense of control buffers against stress
• Multi-system stress activity profiles and socioemotional functioning across the transition to kindergarten
• Genetic Variability in OXTR Polymorphism and Infant Reactivity to Ostracism Experiences
• Early life stress and brain function: Activity and connectivity associated with processing emotion and reward
• Parental emotion regulation strategies and parenting quality predict child internalizing symptoms in families experiencing homelessness
• Neighborhood conditions and neurodevelopment: A systematic review of brain structure in children and adolescents
• Adverse childhood experiences and diurnal cortisol pattern and heart rate variability in adults
• HPA axis response and psychosocial stress as interactive predictors of suicidal ideation and behavior in adolescent females: a multilevel diathesis-stress framework. [europepmc]
• Stress reactivity and the developmental psychopathology of adolescent substance use. [europepmc]
• Early life stress, cortisol, frontolimbic connectivity, and depressive symptoms during puberty. [europepmc]
• Protective factors for youth confronting economic hardship: Current challenges and future avenues in resilience research. [europepmc]
• Violence exposure and social deprivation is associated with cortisol reactivity in urban adolescents. [europepmc]
• The Young Adolescent Project: A longitudinal study of the effects of maltreatment on adolescent development. [europepmc]
• Stress sensitization among severely neglected children and protection by social enrichment. [europepmc]
• Early life stress and brain function: Activity and connectivity associated with processing emotion and reward. [europepmc]
• The complex neurobiology of resilient functioning after childhood maltreatment. [europepmc]
• Early Adversity and Critical Periods: Neurodevelopmental Consequences of Violating the Expectable Environment. [europepmc]
• Life stress and cortisol reactivity: An exploratory analysis of the effects of stress exposure across life on HPA-axis functioning. [europepmc]
• Associations of waking cortisol with DHEA and testosterone across the pubertal transition: Effects of threat-related early life stress. [europepmc]
• Infants of mothers with higher physiological stress show alterations in brain function. [europepmc]
• Developmental trajectories to reduced activation of positive valence systems: A review of biological and environmental contributions. [europepmc]
• RDoC and Psychopathology among Youth: Misplaced Assumptions and an Agenda for Future Research. [europepmc]
• Rethinking Concepts and Categories for Understanding the Neurodevelopmental Effects of Childhood Adversity. [europepmc]
• Adverse childhood experiences and early life inflammation in the Avon longitudinal study of parents and children. [europepmc]
• Effectiveness of a psycho-educational intervention for expecting parents to prevent postpartum parenting stress, depression and anxiety: a randomized controlled trial. [europepmc]
• Early life stress and development: potential mechanisms for adverse outcomes. [europepmc]
• Childhood maltreatment disrupts HPA-axis activity under basal and stress conditions in a dose-response relationship in children and adolescents. [europepmc]
• Adverse childhood experiences, daytime salivary cortisol, and depressive symptoms in early adulthood: a longitudinal genetically informed twin study. [europepmc]
• Neurostructural traces of early life adversities: A meta-analysis exploring age- and adversity-specific effects. [europepmc]
• Deconstructing pathways to resilience: A systematic review of associations between psychosocial mechanisms and transdiagnostic adult mental health outcomes in the context of adverse childhood experiences. [europepmc]
• Stress before conception and during pregnancy and maternal cortisol during pregnancy: A scoping review. [europepmc]
• From childhood adversity to latent stress vulnerability in adulthood: the mediating roles of sleep disturbances and HPA axis dysfunction. [europepmc]

Related

• Dual‐axis hormonal covariation in adolescence and the moderating influence of prior trauma and aversive maternal parenting
• Prenatal Stress, Glucocorticoids and the Programming of the Brain
• Age of Trauma Onset and HPA Axis Dysregulation Among Trauma‐Exposed Youth
• HPA-Axis Activation as a Key Moderator of Childhood Trauma Exposure and Adolescent Mental Health
• Stress and Health: A Review of Psychobiological Processes