Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T07:27:01.825Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Early adversity and internalizing symptoms in adolescence: Mediation by individual differences in latent trait cortisol

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2018

Catherine B. Stroud ,
Frances R. Chen ,
Leah D. Doane  and
Douglas A. Granger
Catherine B. Stroud*
Affiliation:
Williams College
Frances R. Chen
Affiliation:
Georgia State University University of California at Irvine
Leah D. Doane
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Douglas A. Granger
Affiliation:
University of California at Irvine Johns Hopkins University University of Nebraska, Lincoln
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Catherine B. Stroud, Williams College, Bronfman Science Center, 18 Hoxsey St., Williamstown, MA 01267; E-mail: Catherine.B.Stroud@williams.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Research suggests that early adversity places individuals at risk for psychopathology across the life span. Guided by concepts of allostasis and allostatic load, the present study examined whether early adversity contributes to the development of subsequent internalizing symptoms through its association with traitlike individual differences in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis regulation. Early adolescent girls (n = 113; M age = 12.30 years) provided saliva samples at waking, 30 min postwaking, and bedtime over 3 days (later assayed for cortisol). Objective contextual stress interviews with adolescents and their mothers were used to assess the accumulation of nine types of early adversity within the family environment. Greater early adversity predicted subsequent increases in internalizing symptoms through lower levels of latent trait cortisol. Traitlike individual differences in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity may be among the mechanisms through which early adversity confers risk for the development of psychopathology.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 509 - 524
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The authors gratefully acknowledge the families who participated in this study and the staff of the Williams College Youth Emotion Center. In addition, we thank Andrea Gierens at Biochemisches Labor at the University of Trier for technical assistance with the salivary assays. This research was supported by institutional funds from Williams College (C.B.S., Principal Investigator).

References

Adam, E. K. (2006). Transactions among adolescent trait and state emotion and diurnal and momentary cortisol activity in naturalistic settings. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31, 664–679. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2006.01.010.Google Scholar
Adam, E. K., Hawkley, L. C., Kudielka, B. M., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2006). Day-to-day dynamics of experience—Cortisol associations in a population-based sample of older adults. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103, 17058–17063. doi:10.1073/pnas.0605053103.Google Scholar
Adam, E. K., Vrshek-Schallhorn, S., Kendall, A. D., Mineka, S., Zinbarg, R. E., & Craske, M. G. (2014). Prospective associations between the cortisol awakening response and first onsets of anxiety disorders over a six-year follow-up‚ 2013 Curt Richter Award Winner. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 44, 47–59. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.02.014.Google Scholar
Alink, L. R. A., Cicchetti, D., Kim, J., & Rogosch, F. A. (2012). Longitudinal associations among child maltreatment, social functioning, and cortisol regulation. Developmental Psychology, 48, 224–236. doi:10.1037/a0024892.Google Scholar
Badanes, L. S., Watamura, S. E., & Hankin, B. L. (2011). Hypocortisolism as a potential marker of allostatic load in children: Associations with family risk and internalizing disorders. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 881–896. doi:10.1017/s095457941100037x.Google Scholar
Bittner, A., Egger, H. L., Erkanli, A., Costello, E. J., Foley, D. L., & Angold, A. (2007). What do childhood anxiety disorders predict? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 1174–1183.Google Scholar
Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In Bollen, K. A. & Long, J. S. (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Caspi, A., Sudgen, K., Moffit, T. E., Taylor, A., Craig, I. W., Harrington, H., … Poulton, R. (2003). Influence of life stress on depression: Moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene. Science, 301, 386–389.Google Scholar
Chen, F. R., Raine, A., Glenn, A. L., & Granger, D. A. (2016). Hypothalamic pituitary adrenal activity and autonomic nervous system arousal predict developmental trajectories of children's comorbid behavior problems. Developmental Psychobiology, 58, 393–405. doi:10.1002/dev.21379.Google Scholar
Chen, F. R., Raine, A., Rudo-Hutt, A. S., Glenn, A. L., Soyfer, L., & Granger, D. A. (2015). Harsh discipline and behavior problems: The moderating effects of cortisol and alpha-amylase. Biological Psychology, 104, 19–27. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.11.005.Google Scholar
Chen, F. R., Stroud, C. B., Vrshek-Schallhorn, S., Doane, L. D., & Granger, D. A. (2017). Individual differences in early adolescents’ latent trait cortisol: Interaction of early adversity and 5-HTTLPR. Biological Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.07.017.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (2001). The impact of child maltreatment and psychopathology on neuroendocrine functioning. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 783–804.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (2012). Physiological measures of emotion from a developmental perspective: State of the science: Neuroendocrine regulation and emotional adaptation in the context of child maltreatment. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 77, 87–95. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5834.2011.00666.x.Google Scholar
Clow, A., Thorn, L., Evans, P., & Hucklebridge, F. (2004). The awakening cortisol response: Methodological issues and significance. International Journal on the Biology of Stress, 7, 29–37. doi:10.1080/10253890410001667205.Google Scholar
Costello, E. J., Mustillo, S., Erkanli, A., Keeler, G., & Angold, A. (2003). Prevalence and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 837–844.Google Scholar
DeSantis, A. S., Adam, E. K., Doane, L. D., Mineka, S., Zinbarg, R. E., & Craske, M. G. (2007). Racial/ethnic differences in cortisol diurnal rhythms in a community sample of adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, 3–13. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.03.006.Google Scholar
Doane, L. D., Chen, F. R., Sladek, M. R., Van Lenten, S. A., & Granger, D. A. (2015). Latent trait cortisol (LTC) levels: Reliability, validity, and stability. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 55, 21–35. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.01.017.Google Scholar
Doane, L. D., Mineka, S., Zinbarg, R. E., Craske, M., Griffith, J. W., & Adam, E. K. (2013). Are flatter diurnal cortisol rhythms associated with major depression and anxiety disorders in late adolescence? The role of life stress and daily negative emotion. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 629–642. doi:10.1017/S0954579413000060.Google Scholar
Dressendörfer, R. A., Kirschbaum, C., Rohde, W., Stahl, F., & Strasburger, C. J. (1992). Synthesis of a cortisol-biotin conjugate and evaluation as a tracer in an immunoassay for salivary cortisol measurement. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry, 43, 683–692.Google Scholar
Essex, M. J., Shirtcliff, E. A., Burk, L. R., Ruttle, P. L., Klein, M. H., Slattery, M. J., … Armstrong, J. M. (2011). Influence of early life stress on later hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning and its covariation with mental health symptoms: A study of the allostatic process from childhood into adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 1039–1058. doi:10.1017/s0954579411000484.Google Scholar
Evans, G. W. (2003). A multimethodological analysis of cumulative risk and allostatic load among rural children. Developmental Psychology, 39, 924–933. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.39.5.924.Google Scholar
Evans, G. W., Li, D., & Whipple, S. S. (2013). Cumulative risk and child development. Pschological Bulletin, 139, 1342–1396.Google Scholar
Granger, D. A., Fortunato, C. K., Beltzer, E. K., Virag, M., Bright, M. A., & Out, D. (2012). Focus on Methodology: Salivary bioscience and research on adolescence: An integrated perspective. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1081–1095. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.01.005.Google Scholar
Gunnar, M. R., Wewerka, S., Frenn, K., Long, J. D., & Griggs, C. (2009). Developmental changes in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal activity over the transition to adolescence: Normative changes and associations with puberty. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 69–85. doi:10.1017/s0954579409000054.Google Scholar
Harris, T. O., Borsanyi, S., Messari, S., Stanford, K., Cleary, S. E., Shiers, H. M., & Herbert, J. (2000). Morning cortisol as a risk factor for subsequent major depressive disorder in adult women. British Journal of Psychiatry, 177, 505–510.Google Scholar
Heleniak, C., Jenness, J., Van der Stoep, A., McCauley, E., & McLaughlin, K. A. (2016). Childhood maltreatment exposure and disruptions in emotion regulation: A transdiagnostic pathway to adolescent internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 40, 394–415.Google Scholar
Herringa, R. J., Birn, R. M., Ruttle, P. L., Stodola, D. E., Davidson, R. J., & Essex, M. J. (2013). Childhood maltreatment is associated with altered fear circuitry and increased internalizing symptoms by late adolescence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110, 19119–19124.Google Scholar
Het, S., Schoofs, D., Rohleder, N., & Wolf, O. T. (2012). Stress-induced cortisol level elevations are associated with reduced negative affect after stress: Indications for a mood-buffering cortisol effect. Psychosomatic Medicine, 74, 23–32.Google Scholar
Hilt, L. M., Sladek, M. R., Doane, L. D., & Stroud, C. B. (in press). Daily and trait rumination: Diurnal cortisol patterns in adolescent girls. Cognition & Emotion. doi:10.1080/02699931.2016.1262332.Google Scholar
Hoyt, L. T., Zeiders, K. H., Ehrlich, K. B., & Adam, E. K. (2016). Positive upshots of cortisol in everyday life. Emotion, 16, 431–435. doi:10.1037/emo0000174.Google Scholar
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1998). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3, 424–453. doi:10.1037/1082-989x.3.4.424.Google Scholar
Juster, R.-P., Bizik, G., Picard, M., Arsenault-Lapierre, G., Sindi, S., Trepanier, L., … Lupien, S. J. (2011). A transdisciplinary perspective of chronic stress in relation to psychopathology throughout life span development. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 725–776. doi:10.1017/s0954579411000289.Google Scholar
Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rau, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., … Ryan, N. (1997). Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children—Present and Lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980–987.Google Scholar
Kendler, K. S., & Karkowski-Shuman, L. (1997). Stressful life events and genetic liability to major depression: Genetic control of exposure to the environment? Psychological Medicine, 27, 539–547. doi:10.1017/S0033291797004716.Google Scholar
Keyes, K. M., Eaton, N. R., Krueger, R. F., McLaughlin, K. A., Wall, M. M., Grant, B. F., & Hasin, D. S. (2012). Childhood maltreatment and the structure of common psychiatric disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 200, 107–115.Google Scholar
Klein, D. N., Glenn, C. R., Kosty, D. B., Seeley, J. R., Rohde, P., & Lewinsohn, P. M. (2013). Predictors of first lifetime onset of major depressive disorder in young adulthood. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122, 1–6. doi:10.1037/a0029567.Google Scholar
La Rocque, C. L., Harkness, K. L., & Bagby, R. M.. (2014). The differential relation of childhood maltreatment to stress sensitization in adolescent and young adult depression. Journal of Adolescence, 37, 871–882. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.05.012.Google Scholar
Laurent, H. K., Gilliam, K. S., Wright, D. B., & Fisher, P. A. (2015). Child anxiety symptoms related to longitudinal cortisol trajectories and acute stress responses: Evidence of developmental stress sensitization. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 124, 68–79. doi:10.1037/abn0000009.Google Scholar
Lopez-Duran, N. L., Kovacs, M., & George, C. J. (2009). Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation in depressed children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 1272–1283. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.03.016.Google Scholar
Lupien, S. J., Ouellet-Morin, I., Hupbach, A., Tu, M. T., Buss, C., Walker, D., … McEwen, B. S. (2006). Beyond the stress concept: Allostatic load—A developmental biological and cognitive perspective. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology, Vol 2: Developmental neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 578–628). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, D. P. (2008). Introduction to statistical mediation analysis. New York: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
McEwen, B. S. (2004). Protection and damage from acute and chronic stress: Allostasis and allostatic overload and relevance to the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. In Yehuda, R. & McEwen, B. (Eds.), Biobehavioral stress response: Protective and damaging effects (pp. 1–7). New York: New York Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, K. A. (2016). Future directions in childhood adversity and youth psychopathology. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 45, 361–382. doi:10.1080/15374416.2015.1110823.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, K. A., Green, J. G., Gruber, M. J., Sampson, N. A., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Kessler, R. C. (2010). Childhood adversities and adult psychiatric disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication: II. Associations with persistence of DSM-IV disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67, 124–132. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.187.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, K. A., Green, J. G., Gruber, M. J., Sampson, N. A., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Kessler, R. C. (2012). Childhood adversities and first onset psychiatric disorders in a national sample of adolescents. Archives of General Psychiatry, 69, 1151–1160.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, K. A., Kubzansky, L. D., Dunn, E. C., Waldinger, R., Vaillant, G., & Koenen, K. C. (2010). Childhood social environment, emotional reactivity to stress, and mood and anxiety disorders across the life course. Depression and Anxiety, 27, 1087–1094.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, K. A., Sheridan, M. A., Alves, S., & Mendes, W. B. (2014). Child maltreatment and autonomic nervous system reactivity: Identifying dysregulated stress reactivity patterns by using the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat. Psychosomatic Medicine, 76, 538–546.Google Scholar
Miller, G. E., Chen, E., & Zhou, E. S. (2007). If it goes up, must it come down? Chronic stress and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in humans. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 25–45. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.25.Google Scholar
Muthén, B., & Asparouhov, T. (2012). Bayesian structural equation modeling: A more flexible representation of substantive theory Psychological Methods, 17, 313.Google Scholar
Muthen, L. K., & Muthen, B. O. (1998–2017). Mplus user's guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles: Author.Google Scholar
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. (2002). How to use a Monte Carlo study to decide on sample size and determine power. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 599–620. doi:10.1207/S15328007SEM0904_8.Google Scholar
Pendry, P., & Adam, E. K. (2007). Association between parents' marital functioning, maternal parenting quality, maternal emotion, and child cortisol levels. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31, 218–231. doi:10.1177/0165025407074634.Google Scholar
Petersen, A. C., Crockett, L., Richards, M., & Boxer, A. (1988). A self-report measure of pubertal status: Reliability, validity, and initial norms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 17, 117–133. doi:10.1007/bf01537962.Google Scholar
Repetti, R. L., Taylor, S. E., & Seeman, T. E. (2002). Risky families: Family social environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 330–366. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.2.330.Google Scholar
Rohde, P., Beevers, C. G., Stice, E., & O'Neil, K. (2009). Major and minor depression in female adolescents: Onset, course, symptom presentation, and demographic associations. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 1339–1349.Google Scholar
Ross, K. M., Murphy, M. L. M., Adam, E. K., Chen, E., & Miller, G. E. (2014). How stable are diurnal cortisol activity indices in healthy individuals? Evidence from three multi-wave studies. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 39, 184–193. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.09.016.Google Scholar
Rudolph, K. D., & Flynn, M. (2007). Childhood adversity and youth depression: Influence of gender and pubertal status. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 497–521.Google Scholar
Rudolph, K. D., & Hammen, C. (1999). Age and gender as determinants of stress exposure, generation, and reactions in youngsters: A transactional perspective. Child Development, 70, 660–677.Google Scholar
Rudolph, K. D., Hammen, C., Burge, D., Lindberg, N., Herzberg, D. S., & Daley, S. E. (2000). Toward an interpersonal life-stress model of depression: The developmental context of stress generation. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 215–234.Google Scholar
Savalei, V., & Rhemtulla, M. (2012). On obtaining estimates of the fraction of missing information from full information maximum likelihood. Structural Equation Modeling, 19, 477–494. doi:10.1080/10705511.2012.687669.Google Scholar
Shirtcliff, E. A., & Essex, M. J. (2008). Concurrent and longitudinal associations of basal and diurnal cortisol with mental health symptoms in early adolescence. Developmental Psychobiology, 50, 690–703. doi:10.1002/dev.20336.Google Scholar
Slopen, N., McLaughlin, K. A., & Shonkoff, J. P. (2014). Interventions to improve cortisol regulation in children: A systematic review. Pediatrics, 133, 312–326. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-1632.Google Scholar
Stroud, C. B., Chen, F. R., Doane, L. D., & Granger, D. A. (2016a). Individual differences in early adolescents’ latent trait cortisol (LTC): Relation to early adversity. Developmental Psychobiology, 58, 700–713. doi:10.1002/dev.21410.Google Scholar
Stroud, C. B., Chen, F. R., Doane, L D., & Granger, D. A. (2016b). Individual differences in early adolescents’ latent trait cortisol (LTC): Relation to recent acute and chronic stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 70, 38–46. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.04.015.Google Scholar
Vrshek-Schallhorn, S., Doane, L. D., Mineka, S., Zinbarg, R. E., Craske, M. G., & Adam, E. K. (2013). The cortisol awakening response predicts major depression: Predictive stability over a 4-year follow-up and effect of depression history. Psychological Medicine, 43, 483–493.Google Scholar
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, P. O., & Goodyer, I. M. (2011). Childhood adversity and allostatic overload of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis: A vulnerability model for depressive disorders. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 1017–1037. doi:10.1017/S0954579411000472.Google Scholar
Wittchen, H. U., Nelson, C. B., & Lachner, G. (1998). Prevalence of mental disorders and psychosocial impairments in adolescents and young adults. Psychological Medicine, 28, 109–126.Google Scholar
Yeung, E. W., Place, R., Gordish-Dressman, H., Visich, P., Hoffman, E., Walker, S. O., & Granger, D. A. (2016). Salivary latent trait cortisol (LTC): Relation to lipids, blood pressure, and body composition in middle childhood. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 71, 110–118. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.05.013.Google Scholar