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Cited by 212Stress Responses and CortisolChild Abuse and TraumaChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

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

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Essex, Marilyn J., Shirtcliff, Elizabeth A., Burk, Linnea R., Ruttle, Paula L., Klein, Marjorie H., Slattery, Marcia J., Kalin, Ned H., Armstrong, Jeffrey M.·2011·Development and Psychopathology
DOI 10.1017/s0954579411000484PMC PMC3266106
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Abstract

The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is a primary mechanism in the allostatic process through which early life stress (ELS) contributes to disease. Studies of the influence of ELS on children's HPA axis functioning have yielded inconsistent findings. To address this issue, the present study considers multiple types of ELS (maternal depression, paternal depression, and family expressed anger), mental health symptoms, and two components of HPA functioning (traitlike and epoch-specific activity) in a long-term prospective community study of 357 children. ELS was assessed during the infancy and preschool periods; mental health symptoms and cortisol were assessed at child ages 9, 11, 13, and 15 years. A three-level hierarchical linear model addressed questions regarding the influences of ELS on HPA functioning and its covariation with mental health symptoms. ELS influenced traitlike cortisol level and slope, with both hyper- and hypoarousal evident depending on type of ELS. Further, type(s) of ELS influenced covariation of epoch-specific HPA functioning and mental health symptoms, with a tighter coupling of HPA alterations with symptom severity among children exposed previously to ELS. Results highlight the importance of examining multiple types of ELS and dynamic HPA functioning in order to capture the allostatic process unfolding across the transition into adolescence.

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  • The functioning of such brain regions is affected long before children start school and impacts key learning systems, including self-regulation, executive functions, attention, memory, stress reactivity, and language.

    “The functioning of such brain regions is affected long before children start school and impacts key learning systems, including self-regulation, executive functions, attention, memory, stress reactivity, and language (e.g., Essex et al., 2011).”

    From Malleability, plasticity, and individuality: How children learn and develop in context<sup>1</sup> (2019) · cites this paper as Essex et al., 2011

    The Methods (Measures; page unavailable) document stress exposure during infancy and preschool, and the Discussion (page unavailable) links early-life stress to later changes in HPA functioning. The paper thus supports an effect on stress-response functioning, but it does not establish effects on the full list of learning systems, including executive functions, memory, and language. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Chronic stress is associated with impairments in key brain centers, including the limbic system, through processes that are mediated and modulated by the HPA axis.

    “Chronic stress is associated with impairments in key brain centers, including the limbic system, through processes that are mediated and modulated by the HPA axis.”

    From Malleability, plasticity, and individuality: How children learn and develop in context<sup>1</sup> (2019) · cites this paper as Essex et al., 2011

    The paper’s Abstract says HPA-axis cortisol can directly affect the brain and that childhood exposure may alter brain receptor sensitivity; it also links stress neurobiology to cortico-limbic pathways. The Discussion describes stress-related down-regulation of HPA functioning. Neither passage establishes impairment of key brain centers, including the limbic system, mediated by the HPA axis. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Higher early-life cortisol is linked to poorer emotion regulation, lower social competence, and later anxiety and depression symptoms.

    “Increased cortisol levels early in life are associated with poor emotion regulation, less social competence, and later symptoms of anxiety and depression2,3.”

    From Developmental pathways to amygdala–prefrontal function and internalizing symptoms in adolescence (2012) · cites this paper as [3]

  • ELS may sensitize HPA-axis feedback circuitry, producing atypical basal cortisol and structural/functional changes in amygdala and vmPFC.

    “Other work suggests that aspects of ELS may sensitize the neural circuitry that regulates HPA-axis feedback resulting in atypical basal cortisol levels (e.g., heightened or blunted cortisol function2,3), as well as structural and functional changes in brain regions involved in affective reactivity and regulation, such as the amygdala5 and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)6,7.”

    From Developmental pathways to amygdala–prefrontal function and internalizing symptoms in adolescence (2012) · cites this paper as [3]

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Authors
Essex, M. J., Shirtcliff, E. A., Burk, L. R., Ruttle, P. L., Klein, M. H., Slattery, M. J., Kalin, N. H., & Armstrong, J. M.
Affiliations
  • University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
  • LSU New Orleans (US)
Corresponding author
Essex, Marilyn J.
ORCID
Venue
Development and Psychopathology
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2011-10-21
Volume
23
Issue
4
Pages
1039-1058
ISSN
  • 0954-5794 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-2198
DOI
10.1017/s0954579411000484
PMC
PMC3266106
OpenAlex
W2120681311
Cited by
212
References
117
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 9
FWCI
7.38
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
  • Development and Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (P50MH052354, K01MH077687, P50MH069315, R01MH044340, P50MH084051)
  • National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR025011)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30HD003352)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
early life stress, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, cortisol, maternal depression, paternal depression, psychiatric symptoms, hyperarousal, hypoarousal, children, adolescence, HPA axis reactivity
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Anger, Mental Disorders, Child, Child, Preschool, Circadian Rhythm, Depressive Disorder, Family, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Infant, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Child of Impaired Parents

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