scholarly journals Effects of early life adversity on maternal effort and glucocorticoids in wild olive baboons

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam K. Patterson ◽  
Katie Hinde ◽  
Angela B. Bond ◽  
Benjamin C. Trumble ◽  
Shirley C. Strum ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam K Patterson ◽  
Katie Hinde ◽  
Angela B Bond ◽  
Benjamin C Trumble ◽  
Shirley C Strum ◽  
...  

Adverse experiences during early life exert important effects on development, health, reproduction, and social bonds, with consequences often persisting across generations. A mother's early life experiences can impact her offspring's development through a number of pathways, such as maternal care, physiological signaling through glucocorticoids, or even intergenerational effects like epigenetic inheritance. Early life adversity in female yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) predicts elevated glucocorticoids, reduced sociality, shortened lifespan, and higher offspring mortality. If baboon mothers with more early life adversity, experience poorer condition and struggle to provide for their offspring, this could contribute to the persisting transgenerational effects of adversity. Here, we examined the effects of mothers' early life adversity on their maternal effort, physiology, and offspring survivability in a population of olive baboons, Papio anubis. Mothers who experienced more adversity in their own early development exerted greater maternal effort (i.e., spent more time nursing and carrying) and had higher glucocorticoid metabolites than mothers with less early life adversity. Offspring of mothers with more early life adversity had reduced survivability compared to offspring of mothers with less early life adversity. There was no evidence that high maternal social rank buffered against the effects of early life adversity. Our data suggest early life experiences can have lasting consequences on maternal effort and physiology, which may function as proximate mechanisms for intergenerational effects of maternal experience.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Elizabeth Zinn ◽  
Edward Huntley ◽  
Daniel Keating

Introduction. Early life adversity (ELA) can result in negative health-outcomes, including psychopathology. Evidence suggests that adolescence is a critical developmental period for processing ELA. Identity formation, which is crucial to this developmental period, may moderate the effect between ELA and psychopathology. One potential moderating variable associated with identity formation is Prospective Self, a latent construct comprised of future-oriented attitudes and behaviors.Methods. Participants are from the first wave of an ongoing longitudinal study designed to characterize behavioral and cognitive correlates of risk behavior trajectories. A community sample of 10th and 12th grade adolescents (N = 2017, 55% female) were recruited from nine public school districts across eight Southeastern Michigan counties in the United States. Data were collected in schools during school hours or after school via self-report, computer-administered surveys. Structural equation modeling was used in the present study to assess Prospective Self as a latent construct and to evaluate the relationship between ELA, psychopathology, and Prospective Self.Results. Preliminary findings indicated a satisfactory fit for the construct Prospective Self. The predicted negative associations between Prospective Self and psychopathology were found and evidence of moderation was observed for externalizing behavior problems, such that the effects of ELA were lower for individuals with higher levels of Prospective Self. Conclusion. These results support the role of Prospective Self in conferring resilience against externalizing behavior problems associated with ELA among adolescents. Keywords: Adolescence, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Psychopathology, Self-concept, Adolescent Health, Early Life Adversity


Author(s):  
Meg Dennison ◽  
Katie McLaughlin

Early-life adversity is associated with elevated risk for a wide range of mental disorders across the lifespan, including those that involve disruptions in positive emotionality. Although extensive research has evaluated heightened negative emotionality and threat processing as developmental mechanisms linking early-life adversity with mental health problems, emerging evidence suggests that positive emotions play an integral, but complex, role in the association of early-life adversity with psychopathology. This chapter identifies two pathways through which positive emotion influences risk for psychopathology following early-life adversity. First, experiences of early-life adversity may alter the development of the “positive valence system”, which in turn increases risk for psychopathology. Second, the association between adversity and psychopathology may vary as a function of individual differences in positive emotionality. We consider how the development of positive emotionality—measured at psychological, behavioral and neurobiological levels—may be altered by early-life adversity, creating a diathesis for psychopathology. We additionally review evidence for the role of positive emotion, measured at multiple levels, as a protective factor that buffers against the adverse impacts of adversity. In integrating these two roles, it is proposed that characteristics of environmental adversity, including developmental timing, duration, and type of adversity, may differentially impact the development of positive emotionality, leading to a better understanding of risks associated with specific adverse experiences. Methodological issues regarding the measurement of adverse environments as well as implications for early intervention and treatment are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 103836
Author(s):  
Tom J. Barry ◽  
Clara M. Villanueva-Romero ◽  
Jose V. Hernández-Viadel ◽  
Jorge J. Ricarte

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document