scholarly journals Stress sensitization among severely neglected children and protection by social enrichment

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Wade ◽  
Charles H. Zeanah ◽  
Nathan A. Fox ◽  
Florin Tibu ◽  
Laura E. Ciolan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Externalizing Problems ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Childhood Neglect ◽  
Institutionalized Children ◽  
Positive Caregiving

AbstractChildhood adversity may sensitize certain individuals to later stress which triggers or amplifies psychopathology. The current study uses data from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial to examine whether severe early neglect among children reared in institutions increases vulnerability to the effects of later stressful life events on externalizing problems in adolescence, and whether social enrichment in the form of high-quality foster care buffers this risk. Children abandoned to Romanian institutions were randomly assigned to a foster care intervention or care-as-usual during early childhood. A sample of never-institutionalized children served as a comparison group. Here we report that, among those with prolonged institutional rearing, more stressful life events in preadolescence predicted higher externalizing problems in adolescence. This effect was not observed for never-institutionalized children or those in foster care, thus providing experimental evidence that positive caregiving experiences protect against the stress-sensitizing effects of childhood neglect on externalizing problems in adolescence.

scholarly journals Environmental determinants of physiological reactivity to stress: The interacting effects of early life deprivation, caregiving quality, and stressful life events

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 1732-1742
Author(s):  
Mark Wade ◽  
Margaret A. Sheridan ◽  
Charles H. Zeanah ◽  
Nathan A. Fox ◽  
Charles A. Nelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Institutionalized Children ◽  
Caregiving Quality

AbstractChildren who spend their early lives in institutions experience profound psychosocial deprivation that is associated with altered stress response system development. Here, we used data from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of foster care for institutionally reared children to examine whether caregiving quality and stressful life events (SLEs) in early adolescence (age 12) influence patterns of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity. Controlling for the effect of institutional care, higher caregiving quality at age 12 was associated with heightened cortisol and SNS reactivity. However, moderation analysis revealed that the latter effect was only observed among never-institutionalized children, whereas ever-institutionalized children demonstrated a persistently blunted SNS response regardless of recent caregiving quality. Among institutionally reared children, SLEs interacted with prior random assignment to foster care, such that those placed in foster care early in development had a SNS response that approximated never-institutionalized children when SLEs at age 12 were low. In contrast, SNS reactivity was persistently blunted among those with prolonged deprivation, regardless of recent SLEs. Early-life deprivation is associated with persistent blunting of stress response systems, but normalization may be achievable if SLEs are limited following placement into enriched family-based care.

scholarly journals Risk and protective factors for comorbid internalizing and externalizing problems among economically disadvantaged African American youth

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 1043-1056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingwen Liu ◽  
Brian Mustanski ◽  
Danielle Dick ◽  
John Bolland ◽  
Darlene A. Kertes
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Protective Factors ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Externalizing Problems ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing Problems ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing

AbstractComorbidity of internalizing and externalizing problems and its risk and protective factors have not been well incorporated into developmental research, especially among racial minority youth from high-poverty neighborhoods. The present study identified a latent comorbid factor as well as specific factors underlying internalizing and externalizing problems among 592 African American adolescents living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods (291 male; M age = 15.9 years, SD = 1.43 years). Stressful life events and racial discrimination were associated with higher comorbid problems, whereas stressful life events and exposure to violence were associated with higher specific externalizing problems. Collective efficacy was associated with both lower specific externalizing problems and lower comorbid problems. Moreover, high collective efficacy buffered the risk effects of stressful life events and racial discrimination on comorbid problems. Our results demonstrated the advantages of latent variable modeling to understanding comorbidity by articulating impacts of risk factors on comorbid and specific components underlying internalizing and externalizing problems. They also highlighted the protective effect of collective efficacy in mitigating risks for these problems. These findings broadly call for more studies on comorbidities in developmental psychopathology among youth from diverse sociocultural backgrounds.

S51. The Effect of Childhood Adversity Exposure and Recent Stressful Life Events on Longitudinal Inflammatory Response

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (10) ◽  
pp. S316
Author(s):  
Marin M. Kautz ◽  
Brae Anne McArthur ◽  
Daniel P. Moriarity ◽  
Christopher L. Coe ◽  
Lauren M. Ellman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inflammatory Response ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Stressful Life

Depression and heavy alcohol use among adolescents: Concurrent and prospective relations

1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 823-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL WINDLE ◽  
PATRICK T. DAVIES
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Externalizing Problems ◽  
Family Cohesion ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Heavy Drinking ◽  
Primary Caregivers ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Task Orientation

This study of over 1,000 adolescents focused on common and distinctive correlates of four subgroups—no problem, depressed only, heavy drinking only, and mixed (depressed and heavy drinking). Correlates were evaluated from the domains of personal dispositions (e.g., temperament), interpersonal relations (e.g., parent and peer), stressful life events, and other problem behaviors (e.g., delinquency, substance use). The no-problem subgroup differed from the other three subgroups in the direction of healthier functioning on almost all measures. The mixed subgroup reported the most pervasive, low levels of functioning, with the highest levels of childhood externalizing problems and stressful life events, the lowest levels of family social support, and high levels of delinquency and substance use. The depressed-only subgroup reported a more internalized pattern characterized by childhood avoidance problems, a difficult temperament (e.g., inflexibility, withdrawal, low task orientation), interpersonal stressors, and poor coping strategies. The heavy-drinking-only subgroup was characterized by higher drinking levels by primary caregivers and lower levels of family cohesion as reported by primary caregivers. The 1-year prospective findings were generally consistent with the concurrent findings in that variables that were associated with transitions toward and away from depression and heavy drinking were associated with specific transitions (e.g., childhood externalizing problems were associated with the transition from no problem to heavy drinking).

Risk and protective factors for comorbid internalizing and externalizing problems among economically disadvantaged African American youth

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingwen Liu ◽  
Brian Mustanski ◽  
Danielle Dick ◽  
John Bolland ◽  
Darlene A. Kertes
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Protective Factors ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Externalizing Problems ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing Problems ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing

Abstract Comorbidity of internalizing and externalizing problems and its risk and protective factors have not been well incorporated into developmental research, especially among racial minority youth from high-poverty neighborhoods. The present study identified a latent comorbid factor as well as specific factors underlying internalizing and externalizing problems among 592 African American adolescents living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods (291 male; M age = 15.9 years, SD = 1.43 years). Stressful life events and racial discrimination were associated with higher comorbid problems, whereas stressful life events and exposure to violence were associated with higher specific externalizing problems. Collective efficacy was associated with both lower specific externalizing problems and lower comorbid problems. Moreover, high collective efficacy buffered the risk effects of stressful life events and racial discrimination on comorbid problems. Our results demonstrated the advantages of latent variable modeling to understanding comorbidity by articulating impacts of risk factors on comorbid and specific components underlying internalizing and externalizing problems. They also highlighted the protective effect of collective efficacy in mitigating risks for these problems. Broadly, these findings call for more studies on comorbidities in developmental psychopathology among youth from diverse sociocultural backgrounds.

scholarly journals Childhood adversity, adult stressful life events, and risk of past-year psychiatric disorder: a test of the stress sensitization hypothesis in a population-based sample of adults

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1647-1658 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. McLaughlin ◽  
K. J. Conron ◽  
K. C. Koenen ◽  
S. E. Gilman
Keyword(s):  
Major Depression ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Stressful Life ◽  
Stress Sensitization ◽  
Increased Risk

BackgroundChildhood adversity (CA) is associated with adult mental disorders, but the mechanisms underlying this association remain inadequately understood. Stress sensitization, whereby CA increases vulnerability to mental disorders following adult stressful life events, has been proposed as a potential mechanism. We provide a test of the stress sensitization hypothesis in a national sample.MethodWe investigated whether the association between past-year stressful life events and the 12-month prevalence of major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other anxiety disorders, and perceived stress varies according to exposure to CA. We used data from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) (n=34 653).ResultsPast-year stressful life events were associated with an increased risk of major depression, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and perceived stress. However, the magnitude of the increased risk varied according to respondents' history of CA. For example, past-year major stressors were associated with a 27.3% increase in the 12-month risk of depression among individuals with ⩾3 CAs and a 14.8% increased risk among individuals without CAs. Stress sensitization effects were present for depression, PTSD, and other anxiety disorders in women and men, although gender differences were found in the threshold of past-year stress needed to trigger such effects. Stress sensitization was most evident among individuals with ⩾3 CAs.ConclusionsCA is associated with increased vulnerability to the deleterious mental health effects of adult stressors in both men and women. High levels of CA may represent a general diathesis for multiple types of psychopathology that persists throughout the life course.

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