CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 668Stress Responses and CortisolChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentHypothalamic control of reproductive hormones

Developmental changes in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal activity over the transition to adolescence: normative changes and associations with puberty

Gunnar, Megan R., Wewerka, Sandi, Frenn, Kristin, Long, Jeffrey D., Griggs, Christopher·2009·Development and Psychopathology
DOI 10.1017/s0954579409000054PMC PMC3933029
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Home baseline and laboratory stressor (Trier Social Stress Test for Children) measures of salivary cortisol were obtained from 82 participants (40 girls) aged 9, 11, 13, and 15 years. Measures of pubertal development, self-reported stress, parent reports of child depressive symptoms and fearful temperament, and cardiac measures of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity were also obtained. Significant increases in the home cortisol baselines were found with age and pubertal development. Cortisol stress reactivity differed by age group with 11-year-olds and 13-year-old boys showing blunted reactivity and 9-year-olds, 13-year-old girls, and 15-year-olds showing significant cortisol reactions. Cortisol reactivity correlated marginally with sexual maturation. Measures of sympathetic activity revealed increased sympathetic modulation with age. Higher sympathetic tone was associated with more fearful temperament, whereas greater cortisol reactivity was associated with more anxious and depressed symptoms for girls. The importance of these findings for the hypothesis that puberty-associated increases in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity heightens the risk of psychopathology is discussed.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s0954579409000054

Cites

43 of 43 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Changes in the HPA axis during adolescence result in heightened cortisol reactivity to acute stressors and longer recovery relative to childhood and adult years.

    “Similarly, changes in the HPA axis during adolescence result in heightened cortisol reactivity to acute stressors and a longer recovery relative to childhood and adult years (Gunnar et al. 2009, Romeo 2017).”

    From Adolescent Suicide as a Failure of Acute Stress-Response Systems. (2019) · cites this paper as Gunnar et al. 2009

    The Discussion reports generally higher cortisol reactivity in participants aged 13 and older than in those under 13 during one laboratory stressor, though the age pattern was not linear. It does not establish longer cortisol recovery in adolescence or greater reactivity than in adults; the study tested ages 9–15 and describes the older children's response as more adultlike. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Puberty involves extensive neural network changes and alterations in hormonal systems as adolescents move toward sexual maturity.

    “The onset of puberty, characterized by rapid external physical and internal biological changes, includes extensive neural network changes in the brain and alterations in hormonal systems as adolescents move toward sexual maturity (Gunnar et al. 2009, Rudolph 2014, Susman & Dorn 2009).”

    From Adolescent Suicide as a Failure of Acute Stress-Response Systems. (2019) · cites this paper as Gunnar et al. 2009

    The Discussion (page unavailable in our copy) reports changes in HPA-axis activity during the transition to adolescence and an association with pubertal maturation. The Puberty measure section documents physical changes used to assess maturation. The paper does not establish the claimed extensive changes in brain neural networks. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • After an initial hyper-responsive period, the HPA axis may later transition into a stress hypo-responsive period with lower basal cortisol levels and blunted stress-induced cortisol reactivity.

    “After an initial hyper-responsive period, the HPA axis may later transition into a stress hypo-responsive period (SHRP) with lower basal cortisol levels and blunted stress-induced cortisol reactivity (101, 104–106).”

    From Developmental Trajectories of Early Life Stress and Trauma: A Narrative Review on Neurobiological Aspects Beyond Stress System Dysregulation (2019) · cites this paper as [106]

    The Discussion reports a significant cortisol response to the laboratory stressor at age 9 but apparent hyporesponsiveness at age 11 and, among boys, at age 13. That supports a limited age-related dip in stress reactivity, not an initial hyper-responsive period followed by a general stress hypo-responsive period. The Discussion instead reports increases in basal cortisol and, overall, stress reactivity across the transition to adolescence; it does not support the claimed lower basal cortisol levels. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • In puberty/adolescence, the HPA axis transitions from hypo-responsivity into a period of increased activity with progressively higher basal and reactive cortisol levels.

    “In this phase, the HPA axis transitions from hypo-responsivity into a period of increased activity (101, 114–116) with progressive higher basal (106, 110, 117, 118) and reactive (106, 118–121) cortisol levels.”

    From Developmental Trajectories of Early Life Stress and Trauma: A Narrative Review on Neurobiological Aspects Beyond Stress System Dysregulation (2019) · cites this paper as [106]

    The Discussion reports increases in basal cortisol and stress reactivity across the transition to adolescence, supporting the broad developmental trend. It also says the increases were not linear: basal levels were significantly higher chiefly at age 15, and cortisol reactivity fell rather than rose in the 11-year-olds. Thus, the source does not support a steadily progressive rise in both measures. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Stress responsivity in early childhood decreases with age throughout the preschool period, suggesting a potential social buffering of the HPA axis by a nurturing caregiver, who may operate as a safety signal.

    “Some longitudinal studies suggest that stress responsivity in early childhood decreases with age throughout the preschool period (101, 105–107), suggesting a potential social buffering of the HPA axis by a nurturing caregiver, who may operate as a safety signal (108–110).”

    From Developmental Trajectories of Early Life Stress and Trauma: A Narrative Review on Neurobiological Aspects Beyond Stress System Dysregulation (2019) · cites this paper as [106]

    The Abstract describes children aged 9, 11, 13, and 15, and the Discussion states that the study was cross-sectional. Our copy does not address a longitudinal decline in stress responsivity during the preschool years or explain such a decline through caregiver social buffering (searched: preschool-age responsivity, caregiver buffering, safety signal). (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Gunnar, M. R., Wewerka, S., Frenn, K., Long, J. D., & Griggs, C.
Affiliations
University of Minnesota (US)
Corresponding author
Gunnar, Megan R.
ORCID
Venue
Development and Psychopathology
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2009-01
Volume
21
Issue
1
Pages
69-85
ISSN
  • 0954-5794 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-2198
DOI
10.1017/s0954579409000054
PMC
PMC3933029
OpenAlex
W2098767958
Semantic Scholar
b29192e52004872377a35c7dcb7f3bddfb9c220b
Cited by
668
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 44 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 55 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 43 · 2014: 47 · 2013: 56 · 2012: 43
FWCI
14.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 14 d)
Locations
Development and Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH068857, R01MH068857, K05MH066208, K-05 MH66208)
  • National Center for Research Resources (M01RR000400, M01-RR00400)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
Keywords
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, puberty, adolescence, salivary cortisol, cortisol response, Trier Social Stress Test for Children, sympathetic activity, parasympathetic activity, fearful temperament, depressive symptoms, anxiety, sexual maturation, developmental changes

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review