Stress hormone levels of children of depressed mothers
Abstract
Research suggests that disruptions in early caretaking can have long-term effects on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, which mediates the stress response. Children of depressed mothers are at increased risk for developing internalizing problems in part because of disruptions in their caretaking environment. The present study investigated whether children of depressed mothers exhibit elevated salivary cortisol levels. Salivary cortisol samples were collected from 45 7- to 8-year-old children of mothers with a history of depression and 29 children of nondepressed mothers. Samples were collected soon after arrival to the laboratory and after a mild laboratory stressor and at home after wakeup and before bedtime. Children who had elevated levels of internalizing symptoms and whose mothers had a history of depression showed elevated laboratory baseline cortisol levels. Children who were reported to have clinically significant internalizing symptoms were also more likely to show an elevated stress response to a mild laboratory stressor. When the longitudinal history of maternal depression was examined, maternal depression during the child's first 2 years of life was the best predictor of elevations in baseline cortisol at age 7 years. This study provides evidence that internalizing symptoms exist in conjunction with a more reactive hormonal stress system in children of depressed mothers. The results also provide preliminary evidence that exposure to maternal depression in the first 2 years of life may be related to children's cortisol levels later in life.
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Maternal depression during early childhood robustly predicts elevated tonic cortisol during middle childhood.
“Maternal depression during early childhood robustly predicts elevated tonic cortisol during middle childhood (Ashman et al., 2002; Essex et al., 2002).”
From Developmental psychoneuroendocrine and psychoneuroimmune pathways from childhood adversity to disease (2017) · cites this paper as Ashman et al., 2002
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- Authors
- ASHMAN, S. B., DAWSON, G., PANAGIOTIDES, H., YAMADA, E., & WILKINSON, C. W.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- Venue
- Development and Psychopathology
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2002-05-15
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 333-349
- ISSN
- 0954-5794 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-2198
- OpenAlex
- W2110665334
- Cited by
- 310
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 22
- FWCI
- 2.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Development and Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01mh047117-08)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH47117)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Keywords
- maternal depression, salivary cortisol, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, stress response, internalizing problems, children, early caregiving, cortisol response, laboratory stressor
- MeSH terms
- Arousal, Child, Child Behavior Disorders, Child, Preschool, Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Infant, Internal-External Control, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Personality Assessment, Risk Factors, Child of Impaired Parents
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