scholarly journals Working memory moderates the association between early institutional care and separation anxiety symptoms in late childhood and adolescence

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 989-997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Alicia Alba ◽  
Jessica Flannery ◽  
Mor Shapiro ◽  
Nim Tottenham
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Separation Anxiety ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Late Childhood ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Significant Heterogeneity ◽  
Morning Cortisol ◽  
Cortisol Levels

AbstractAdverse caregiving, for example, previous institutionalization (PI), is often associated with emotion dysregulation that increases anxiety risk. However, the concept of developmental multifinality predicts heterogeneity in anxiety outcomes. Despite this well-known heterogeneity, more work is needed to identify sources of this heterogeneity and how these sources interact with environmental risk to influence mental health. Here, working memory (WM) was examined during late childhood/adolescence as an intra-individual factor to mitigate the risk for separation anxiety, which is particularly susceptible to caregiving adversities. A modified “object-in-place” task was administered to 110 youths (10–17 years old), with or without a history of PI. The PI youths had elevated separation anxiety scores, which were anticorrelated with morning cortisol levels, yet there were no group differences in WM. PI youths showed significant heterogeneity in separation anxiety symptoms and morning cortisol levels, and WM moderated the link between caregiving and separation anxiety and mediated the association between separation anxiety and morning cortisol in PI youth. Findings suggest that (a) institutional care exerts divergent developmental consequences on separation anxiety versus WM, (b) WM interacts with adversity-related emotion dysregulation, and (c) WM may be a therapeutic target for separation anxiety following early caregiving adversity.

scholarly journals Longitudinal changes in amygdala, hippocampus and cortisol development following early caregiving adversity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle VanTieghem ◽  
Marta Korom ◽  
Jessica Flannery ◽  
Tricia Choy ◽  
Christina Caldera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Structural Mri ◽  
Hippocampal Volume ◽  
Stress Physiology ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Morning Cortisol

Decades of research have shown long-term effects of early caregiving adversity (ECA) on stress physiology and limbic brain volume (e.g. amygdala, hippocampus). Although these systems undergo significant maturational change during childhood and adolescence, and reciprocally influence each other, the effects of ECA on these developmental processes is not well understood. In the current study, we used an accelerated longitudinal design to assess the development of stress physiology, amygdala, and hippocampal volume following early institutional care. Previously Institutionalized (PI; N = 93) and comparison (COMP; N = 161) youth (ages 4-20 years old) completed 1-3 waves of data collection, each spaced approximately 2 years apart, for diurnal cortisol (N = 239, providing a total of 380 diurnal datasets), structural MRI (N = 156, providing a total of 306 scans) and parent-reported internalizing symptoms (N = 133, providing a total of 227 time points). We observed a developmental shift in morning cortisol in the PI group, with blunted levels in childhood and heightened levels in late adolescence. PI history was associated with reduced hippocampal volume and reduced growth rate of the amygdala, resulting in smaller volumes by adolescence. Results also suggested feed-forward brain-to-hormone mechanisms; amygdala and hippocampal volumes were prospectively associated with morning cortisol levels two years later. Finally, amygdala and hippocampal volumes were independently associated with internalizing scores. These results indicate that adversity-related physiological and neural phenotypes are not stationary during development but instead exhibit dynamic and interdependent changes from early childhood to early adulthood.

scholarly journals Ambient air pollutants are associated with morning serum cortisol in overweight and obese Latino youth in Los Angeles

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Toledo-Corral ◽  
T. L. Alderete ◽  
M. M. Herting ◽  
R. Habre ◽  
A. K. Peterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hpa Axis ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Latino Youth ◽  
Serum Cortisol ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Pubertal Status ◽  
Ambient Air Pollutants ◽  
Morning Cortisol ◽  
Morning Serum Cortisol ◽  
Cortisol Levels

Abstract Background Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis dysfunction has been associated with a variety of mental health and cardio-metabolic disorders. While causal models of HPA-axis dysregulation have been largely focused on either pre-existing health conditions or psychosocial stress factors, recent evidence suggests a possible role for central nervous system activation via air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM). Therefore, in an observational study of Latino youth, we investigated if monthly ambient NO2, O3, and PM with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 (PM2.5) exposure were associated with morning serum cortisol levels. Methods In this cross-sectional study, morning serum cortisol level was assessed after a supervised overnight fast in 203 overweight and obese Latino children and adolescents (female/male: 88/115; mean age: 11.1 ± 1.7 years; pre-pubertal/pubertal/post-pubertal: 85/101/17; BMI z-score: 2.1 ± 0.4). Cumulative concentrations of NO2, O3 and PM2.5 were spatially interpolated at the residential addresses based on measurements from community monitors up to 12 months prior to testing. Single and multi-pollutant linear effects models were used to test the cumulative monthly lag effects of NO2, O3, and PM2.5 on morning serum cortisol levels after adjusting for age, sex, seasonality, social position, pubertal status, and body fat percent by DEXA. Results Single and multi-pollutant models showed that higher O3 exposure (derived from maximum 8-h exposure windows) in the prior 1–7 months was associated with higher serum morning cortisol (p < 0.05) and longer term PM2.5 exposure (4–10 months) was associated with lower serum morning cortisol levels (p < 0.05). Stratification by pubertal status showed associations in pre-pubertal children compared to pubertal and post-pubertal children. Single, but not multi-pollutant, models showed that higher NO2 over the 4–10 month exposure period associated with lower morning serum cortisol (p < 0.05). Conclusions Chronic ambient NO2, O3 and PM2.5 differentially associate with HPA-axis dysfunction, a mechanism that may serve as an explanatory pathway in the relationship between ambient air pollution and metabolic health of youth living in polluted urban environments. Further research that uncovers how ambient air pollutants may differentially contribute to HPA-axis dysfunction are warranted.

Multiple developmental pathways underlying conduct problems: A multitrajectory framework

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Jules R. Dugré ◽  
Stéphane Potvin
Keyword(s):  
Conduct Disorder ◽  
Conduct Problems ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Behavioral Approach ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Psychological Features

Abstract In the past decades, there has been an overemphasis of a descriptive/behavioral approach to study conduct disorder. In an equifinal perspective, we aimed to examine the developmental multitrajectory groups of psychological features (irritability, interpersonal callousness, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and depressive–anxiety symptoms) and their associations with conduct problems. In a population-based cohort (n = 1,309 participants followed from 5 months to 17 years old), latent-class growth analysis was performed for each psychological feature to identify a two-trajectory model (from ages 6 to 12 years). Based on parameter estimates of the two-trajectory models for each of the four psychological features, a parallel process growth mixture model identified eight significant developmental patterns that were subsequently compared with typically developing children. Furthermore, we observed that while interpersonal callousness conferred an increased risk for childhood and adolescence conduct problems, its co-occurrence with hyperactivity/impulsivity, irritability, and/or depressive–anxiety symptoms heightened the general risk, but also predicted distinct subtypes of conduct problems (i.e., aggressive and rule-breaking behaviors). Thus, by studying complex developmental combinations of psychological features, we observed qualitatively distinct pathways towards conduct problems. A multitrajectory framework of psychological features should be considered as a significant step towards unveiling the multiple etiological pathways leading to conduct disorder and its substantial clinical heterogeneity.

scholarly journals Developmental changes in the structure of the social brain in late childhood and adolescence

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Mills ◽  
François Lalonde ◽  
Liv S. Clasen ◽  
Jay N. Giedd ◽  
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Late Childhood ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Social Brain ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals Benefits of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention upon School Entry: A Pilot Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (23) ◽  
pp. 12630
Author(s):  
Adam Koncz ◽  
Ferenc Köteles ◽  
Zsolt Demetrovics ◽  
Zsofia K. Takacs
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Short Story ◽  
First Graders ◽  
School Entry ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Mindfulness Intervention ◽  
Cortisol Levels

Background: mindfulness meditation is effective at fostering the executive functioning of children, i.e., the skills that play important roles in academic performance and social–emotional wellbeing. One possible mechanism for such an effect might be that meditation practices can decrease stress, especially if someone is at a risk for elevated cortisol levels, for instance, due to a stressful life event, such as starting school. Participants and methods: the present pilot study tested the effects of a six-session mindfulness intervention applied right after school entry compared to a passive control group. In total 61 first graders participated (Mage = 84.95 months, SD = 5.21) in this study from four classes of a primary school in Budapest. Repeated-measures ANOVA were performed to explore the effects on executive functioning skills and cortisol levels. Results: no effect was found on morning salivary cortisol levels, but the working memory capacities of girls significantly improved as a result of the intervention. Conclusions: a relatively short, story-based mindfulness intervention can improve the working memory capacities of first-graders; thus, it could potentially contribute to the academic performance and adaptation of children in schools.

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