Early Life Stress and Child Temperament Style as Predictors of Childhood Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms: Findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children

Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the relationship between stressful infant environments and later childhood anxiety and depressive symptoms varies as a function of individual differences in temperament style.Methods. Data was drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). This study examined 3425 infants assessed at three time points, at 1-year, at 2/3 years and at 4/5 years. Temperament was measured using a 12-item version of Toddler Temperament Scale (TTS) and was scored for reactive, avoidant, and impulsive dimensions. Logistic regression was used to model direct relationships and additive interactions between early life stress, temperament, and emotional symptoms at 4 years of age. Analyses were adjusted for socioeconomic status, parental education, and marital status.Results. Stressful family environments experienced in the infant's first year of life (high versus low) and high reactive, avoidant, and impulsive temperament styles directly and independently predicted anxiety and depressive problems in children at 4 years of age. There was no evidence of interaction between temperament and family stress exposure.Conclusions. Both infant temperament and stress exposures are independent and notable predictors of later anxiety and depressive problems in childhood. The risk relationship between stress exposure in infancy and childhood emotion problems did not vary as a function of infant temperament. Implications for preventive intervention and future research directions are discussed.

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Three-way interaction effects of early life stress, positive parenting and FKBP5 in the development of depressive symptoms in a general population

Journal of Neural Transmission ◽

10.1007/s00702-021-02405-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecka Keijser ◽

Susanne Olofsdotter ◽

Kent W. Nilsson ◽

Cecilia Åslund

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Differential Susceptibility ◽

Early Life Stress ◽

Interaction Effects ◽

Positive Parenting ◽

Depressive Symptomology ◽

Patterns Of Interaction

AbstractFKBP5 gene–environment interaction (cG × E) studies have shown diverse results, some indicating significant interaction effects between the gene and environmental stressors on depression, while others lack such results. Moreover, FKBP5 has a potential role in the diathesis stress and differential susceptibility theorem. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether a cG × E interaction effect of FKBP5 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or haplotype and early life stress (ELS) on depressive symptoms among young adults was moderated by a positive parenting style (PASCQpos), through the frameworks of the diathesis stress and differential susceptibility theorem. Data were obtained from the Survey of Adolescent Life in Västmanland Cohort Study, including 1006 participants and their guardians. Data were collected during 2012, when the participants were 13 and 15 years old (Wave I: DNA), 2015, when participants were 16 and 18 years old (Wave II: PASCQpos, depressive symptomology and ELS) and 2018, when participants were 19 and 21 years old (Wave III: depressive symptomology). Significant three-way interactions were found for the FKBP5 SNPs rs1360780, rs4713916, rs7748266 and rs9394309, moderated by ELS and PASCQpos, on depressive symptoms among young adults. Diathesis stress patterns of interaction were observed for the FKBP5 SNPs rs1360780, rs4713916 and rs9394309, and differential susceptibility patterns of interaction were observed for the FKBP5 SNP rs7748266. Findings emphasize the possible role of FKBP5 in the development of depressive symptoms among young adults and contribute to the understanding of possible differential susceptibility effects of FKBP5.

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P.220 FKBP51 loss in glutamatergic forebrain neurons and early life stress exposure shape anxiety and cognition in female mice

European Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1016/j.euroneuro.2019.12.046 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 31 ◽

pp. S33-S34

Author(s):

L. Van Doeselaar ◽

C. Engelhardt ◽

J. Bordes ◽

L. Brix ◽

J. Deussing ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Early Life Stress ◽

Stress Exposure ◽

Female Mice ◽

Forebrain Neurons

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Adolescent Stress Increases Adult Ethanol Self-administration and Alters Ventral Tegmental Area GABA Signaling

10.1101/715607 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

David A Connor ◽

Ruthie E Wittenberg ◽

Jillian Drogin ◽

Allison Mak ◽

John A Dani

Keyword(s):

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Alcohol Use Disorders ◽

Early Life Stress ◽

Male Rats ◽

Stress Exposure ◽

Self Administration ◽

Adolescent Stress ◽

Gaba Signaling

AbstractAlcohol use disorders (AUDs) continue to be a significant public health problem. Early life stress and adversity have long-lasting effects on a wide range of behaviors, including responses to drugs of abuse. Epidemiological evidence indicates that exposure to early life stress contributes to alcohol use disorders and, while it is known that stress and alcohol both act on overlapping mesolimbic circuitry, the cellular mechanisms underlying the relationship between stress and alcohol intake are not well understood. Previous work has demonstrated that acute stress increases ethanol intake mediated by changes in GABA signaling within the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Here we investigated if adolescent stress exposure might elicit long-term, persistent increases in ethanol self-administration associated with altered VTA GABA signaling. To this end, we exposed adolescent postnatal day (PND) 28 male rats to 14 days of chronic variable stress (CVS) and then examined operant ethanol self-administration begun at least 30 days later. We found that adolescent stress exposure resulted in significantly increased ethanol self-administration in adulthood. In contrast, adult (PND 82) male rats exposed to the same CVS protocol did not display increased ethanol self-administration that was begun 30 days later. Furthermore, we found that adolescent stress exposure resulted in enhancement of ethanol-induced GABA signaling onto VTA dopamine neurons and impairments in VTA GABA chloride homeostasis. The results indicate that adolescence is a period vulnerable to stress, which produces long-term changes in VTA GABA signaling associated with increased ethanol self-administration behavior.

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Early Life Stress Predicts Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Perceived Stress

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3606441 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ian H. Gotlib ◽

Lauren R. Borchers ◽

Rajpreet Chahal ◽

Anthony J. Gifuni ◽

Tiffany Ho

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Early Life Stress ◽

Mediating Role

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Early Life Stress Predicts Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Perceived Stress

10.31234/osf.io/4dkaf ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ian Gotlib ◽

Lauren Borchers ◽

Rajpreet Chahal ◽

Anthony Gifuni ◽

Giana Isabella Teresi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

San Francisco ◽

Perceived Stress ◽

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Early Life Stress ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Symptoms Of Depression ◽

Bay Area ◽

Background Exposure

Background: Exposure to early life stress (ELS) is alarmingly prevalent, and has been linked to the high rates of depression documented in adolescence. Researchers have theorized that ELS may increase adolescents’ vulnerability or reactivity to the effects of subsequent stressors, placing them at higher risk for developing symptoms of depression. Methods: We tested this formulation in a longitudinal study by assessing levels of stress and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of adolescents from the San Francisco Bay Area (N=100; 43 male; ages 13-20 years) who had been characterized 4-7 years earlier (M=5.27, SD=0.75 years) with respect to exposure to ELS and symptoms of depression. Results: As expected, severity of ELS predicted levels of depressive symptoms during the pandemic (r(98)=0.25, p=.012), which were higher in females than in males (t(98)=-3.36, p=.001). Importantly, the association between ELS and depression was mediated by adolescents’ reported levels of stress, even after controlling for demographic and other COVID-19-related variables. Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of monitoring the mental health of vulnerable children and adolescents during this pandemic and targeting perceived stress and isolation in high-risk youth.

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