Protector and Casualty

2019 ◽  
pp. 495-522
Author(s):  
Meg Dennison ◽  
Katie McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Positive Emotionality ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Adverse Experiences ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Positive Valence

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.

scholarly journals Cumulative prenatal exposure to adversity reveals associations with a broad range of neurodevelopmental outcomes that are moderated by a novel, biologically informed polygenetic score based on the serotonin transporter solute carrier family C6, member 4 (SLC6A4) gene expression

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 1601-1617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia P. Silveira ◽  
Irina Pokhvisneva ◽  
Carine Parent ◽  
Shirong Cai ◽  
Anu Sathyan Sathyapalan Rema ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Serotonin Transporter ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Child Behavior Checklist ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Outcomes ◽  
Genetic Score ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Developmental Problems ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractWhile many studies focus on the association between early life adversity and the later risk for psychopathology, few simultaneously explore diverse forms of environmental adversity. Moreover, those studies that examined the cumulative impact of early life adversity focus uniquely on postnatal influences. The objective of this study was to focus on the fetal period of development to construct and validate a cumulative prenatal adversity score in relation to a wide range of neurodevelopmental outcomes. We also examined the interaction of this adversity score with a biologically informed genetic score based on the serotonin transporter gene. Prenatal adversities were computed in two community birth cohorts using information on health during pregnancy, birth weight, gestational age, income, domestic violence/sexual abuse, marital strain, as well as maternal smoking, anxiety, and depression. A genetic score based on genes coexpressed with the serotonin transporter in the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex during prenatal life was constructed with an emphasis on functionally relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms, that is, expression quantitative trait loci. Prenatal adversities predicted a wide range of developmental and behavioral alterations in children as young as 2 years of age in both cohorts. There were interactions between the genetic score and adversities for several domains of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), with pervasive developmental problems remaining significant adjustment for multiple comparisons. Scores combining different prenatal adverse exposures predict childhood behavior and interact with the genetic background to influence the risk for psychopathology.

scholarly journals Child Psychological Adjustment to War and Displacement: A Discriminant Analysis of Resilience and Trauma in Syrian Refugee Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 2575-2588
Author(s):  
Veronese Guido ◽  
Pepe Alessandro ◽  
Giordano Francesca
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Protective Factor ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Trauma Symptoms ◽  
Linear Discriminant ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractThe ongoing war in Syria has led to the displacement of 12 million people since 2011, with minors representing 40% of all refugees. Syrian children living in refugee camps are at risk of developing a wide range of mental health problems, given their previous and ongoing exposure to episodes of violence, disruption of family ties, and discontinuous access to education. In this study, we drew on the salutogenic paradigm to investigate whether, and to what extent, high/low levels of resilience were associated with other indicators of mental health and post-traumatic response in Syrian children living in refugee camps. The sample was composed of 311 Syrian children living in Jordanian refugee camps as a consequence of the war in Syria. We administered quantitative self-report measures to assess participants’ exposure to trauma, individual levels of resilience, and mental health, performing discriminant analysis to examine the association between resilience and trauma/mental health. Syrian children living in Jordanian refugee camps reported intense exposure to traumatic events. The linear discriminant equation supported adoption of the function [Wilk’s Lambda (Λ = 0.827)]: lower levels of resilience were associated with trauma symptoms (re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal) and emotional problems, while higher levels of resilience were associated with pro-social behaviours. The findings of the present study suggest that resilience acts as a protective factor buffering children from the consequences of trauma and challenging life conditions. We discuss the implications for interventions designed to promote the wellbeing and mental health of children living in refugee camps.

scholarly journals Serotonin-related pathways and developmental plasticity: relevance for psychiatric disorders

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-41 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Wide Range

Risk for adult psychiatric disorders is partially determined by early-life alterations occurring during neural circuit formation and maturation. In this perspective, recent data show that the serotonin system regulates key cellular processes involved in the construction of cortical circuits. Translational data for rodents indicate that early-life serotonin dysregulation leads to a wide range of behavioral alterations, ranging from stress-related phenotypes to social deficits. Studies in humans have revealed that serotonin-related genetic variants interact with early-life stress to regulate stress-induced cortisol responsiveness and activate the neural circuits involved in mood and anxiety disorders. Emerging data demonstrate that early-life adversity induces epigenetic modifications in serotonin-related genes. Finally, recent findings reveal that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors can reinstate juvenile-like forms of neural plasticity, thus allowing the erasure of long-lasting fear memories. These approaches are providing new insights on the biological mechanisms and clinical application of antidepressants.

scholarly journals Is Early Life Adversity a Trigger towards Inflammageing?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam Merz ◽  
Jonathan D. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Chronic Viral Infections ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Distinct Features ◽  
Near Future

There are many ‘faces’ of early life adversity (ELA), such as childhood trauma, institutionalization, abuse or exposure to environmental toxins. These have been implicated in the onset and severity of a wide range of chronic non-communicable diseases later in life. The later-life disease risk has a well-established immunological component. This raises the question as to whether accelerated immune-ageing mechanistically links early-life adversity to the lifelong health trajectory resulting in either ‘poor’ or ‘healthy’ ageing. Here we examine observational and mechanistic studies of ELA and inflammageing, highlighting common and distinct features in these two life stages. Many biological processes appear in common including reduction in telomere length, increased immuno-senescence, metabolic distortions and chronic (viral) infections. We propose that ELA shapes the developing immune, endocrine and nervous system in a non-reversible way, creating a distinct phenotype with accelerated immuno-senescence and systemic inflammation. We believe that ELA acts as an accelerator for inflammageing and age-related diseases. Furthermore, we now have the tools and cohorts to be able to dissect the interaction between early life adversity and later life phenotype. This should, in the near future, allow us to identify the ecological and mechanistic processes that are involved in ‘healthy’ or accelerated immune-ageing.

Positive Emotion-Based Impulsivity as a Transdiagnostic Endophenotype

2019 ◽  
pp. 196-222
Author(s):  
Miji Um ◽  
Melissa A. Cyders
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Risky Behaviors ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Clinical Disorders

Positive emotion-based impulsivity (i.e., positive urgency) is an important impulsivity-related trait associated with a wide range of problematic behaviors and clinical disorders, including substance use, alcohol dependence, pathological gambling, risky sexual behaviors, and non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors, among others. Since its identification in 2007, research has begun to better appreciate how positive emotions bias decision-making and can lead to many of the same negative outcomes that for years were primarily believed to be connected with negative emotional states. However, much still remains to be uncovered about positive urgency, including (a) how best to assess such tendencies without the limitations of self-report biases, (b) how positive urgency imparts risk in specific clinical samples, (c) which mechanisms underlie how positive urgency imparts risk, and (d) how best to intervene on or prevent positive emotion–based risky behaviors. This chapter reviews the accumulating empirical evidence for positive urgency, presents potential mechanisms for how it might affect risk-taking and clinical problems, and discusses many limitations in the current understanding that have thus far made it difficult to identify, prevent, and intervene on this tendency. There are, of course, adaptive and maladaptive features to positive emotions. The extent to which these positive emotions increase risk-taking, however, is an endophenotypic marker of mental health risk across a range of clinical disorders. Better understanding of mechanisms underlying this tendency will lead to identification of novel treatment and prevention targets with broad clinical applicability.

scholarly journals CUMULATIVE DISADVANTAGE OF EARLY-LIFE ADVERSITY AND HEALTH IN MIDLIFE AND LATER ADULTHOOD

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S350-S351
Author(s):  
Jooyoung Kong ◽  
Agus Surachman ◽  
Deborah Carr
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Physical And Psychological Health

Abstract Cumulative dis/advantage (CDA) framework is one of the most influential theoretical frameworks in understanding how early adversity creates health disparities across adulthood. The CDA model posits that adverse experiences early in life may lead to subsequent adversities over time and accumulates across the life course. Various studies have shown that middle-aged and later adulthood are periods when accumulated disadvantages proliferate, resulting in heightened risks for an individual’s health and well-being. This symposium includes four presentations that build on such existing knowledge, and its primary aim was to further examine the complexity of how various types of adverse childhood experiences may influence physical and psychological health in middle and later adulthood. This symposium addresses a wide range of early adversities, including low socioeconomic status, parental maltreatment, and household dysfunctions. The four presentations also focus on examining various aspects of physical and psychological health outcomes in later adulthood, including measures of body mass index, physical functional ability, somatic symptoms, and clinical risk for rapid declines in kidney function. Furthermore, these presentations will demonstrate the utilization of innovative and robust methodological approaches, including latent class analysis, multilevel structural equation modeling, and latent growth modeling on examining the association between early life adversity on the long-term trajectory of change in health status using large-scale longitudinal data. Lastly, this symposium consists of an outstanding group of multidisciplinary presenters with diverse backgrounds who aim to enhance the understanding of the processes and mechanisms of CDA and how they affect individuals’ life courses.

scholarly journals Rethinking Concepts and Categories for Understanding the Neurodevelopmental Effects of Childhood Adversity

2020 ◽  
pp. 174569162092072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen E. Smith ◽  
Seth D. Pollak
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Early Life ◽  
System Development ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Adverse Experiences ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Effects

Discovering the processes through which early adverse experiences affect children’s nervous-system development, health, and behavior is critically important for developing effective interventions. However, advances in our understanding of these processes have been constrained by conceptualizations that rely on categories of adversity that are overlapping, have vague boundaries, and lack consistent biological evidence. Here, we discuss central problems in understanding the link between early-life adversity and children’s brain development. We conclude by suggesting alternative formulations that hold promise for advancing knowledge about the neurobiological mechanisms through which adversity affects human development.

Resilience in Adolescence: Prospective Self Moderates the Association of Early Life Adversity with Psychopathology

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Elizabeth Zinn ◽  
Edward Huntley ◽  
Daniel Keating
Keyword(s):  
Behavior Problems ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Externalizing Behavior ◽  
Early Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Externalizing Behavior Problems ◽  
Developmental Period ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Latent Construct

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

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document