Childhood social environment, emotional reactivity to stress, and mood and anxiety disorders across the life course
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Adverse child environments are associated with the onset of mood and anxiety disorders in adulthood. The mechanisms underlying these life-course associations remain poorly understood. We investigate whether emotional reactivity to stress is a mechanism in the association between childhood environment characteristics and adult mood and anxiety disorders. METHODS: Data are from the Study of Adult Development, a longitudinal study of men (N = 268) followed for nearly seven decades beginning in late adolescence. Childhood social environment characteristics were assessed during home visits and interviews with respondents' parents at entry into the study. Stress reactivity was assessed during respondents' sophomore year of college via physician exam. Onset of mood and anxiety disorders in adulthood was ascertained by research psychiatrists who completed chart reviews of interview, questionnaire, and physical exam data collected during repeated assessments from age 20 to 70. RESULTS: Respondents with better overall childhood environments and a greater number of environmental strengths were at lower odds of developing a mood or anxiety disorder in adulthood than respondents with more adverse childhood environments. Higher stress reactivity was observed among respondents from families with lower socio-economic status and with childhood environments characterized by greater conflict and adversity. Elevated stress reactivity, in turn, predicted the onset of adult mood and anxiety disorders. CONCLUSION: Heightened emotional reactivity in early adulthood is associated with both adverse childhood environments and elevated risk for developing mood and anxiety disorders in adulthood. Emotional reactivity may be one mechanism linking childhood adversity to mood and anxiety disorders in adulthood.
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McLaughlin et al. found an association between child adversities and a combination of increased stress reactivity and the development of anxiety and depression.
“McLaughlin et al. found an association between child adversities and a combination of increased stress reactivity and the development of anxiety and depression [33] .”
From The traumagenic neurodevelopmental model of psychosis revisited (2014) · cites this paper as [33]
There is evidence that childhood trauma increases risk of psychopathology in response to adult stressors.
“Furthermore, there is evidence that childhood trauma increases risk of psychopathology in response to adult stressors (McLaughlin et al., 2010).”
From The effects of psychosocial stress on dopaminergic function and the acute stress response (2019) · cites this paper as McLaughlin et al., 2010
Early developmental stressors increase the risk of psychopathology following adult stressors.
“early developmental stressors increase the risk of psychopathology following adult stressors”
From The effects of psychosocial stress on dopaminergic function and the acute stress response (2019) · cites this paper as McLaughlin et al., 2010
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“, 2005) and has been used widely in other published reports examining mood, anxiety and substance use disorders (McLaughlin et al., 2010), discrimination in the medical setting (Benjamins & Whitman, 2014), and child and youth health (Priest et al.”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- McLaughlin, K. A., Kubzansky, L. D., Dunn, E. C., Waldinger, R., Vaillant, G., & Koenen, K. C.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- McLaughlin, Katie A.
- Venue
- Depression and Anxiety
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-12
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1087-1094
- ISSN
- 1091-4269 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3074636
- OpenAlex
- W1965015206
- Cited by
- 243
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 7.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Depression and Anxiety (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (AG034554, R01AG034554)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH 070627, K05-MH00364, R01MH078928, MH-078928, K08MH070627, R01MH042248, F31MH088074, MH088074, K01MH092526, MH042248, K05MH000364)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- stress reactivity, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, adverse childhood experiences, life course, socioeconomic status, family conflict, family adversity, early adulthood, anxiety
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Anxiety Disorders, Arousal, Child, Connecticut, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depressive Disorder, Major, Major Depressive Disorder, Emotions, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Social Environment, Socioeconomic Factors, Stress, Psychological, Incidence, Young Adult
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