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Early-life adversity and cortisol response to social stress: a meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Early-life adversity has been associated with a life-long increased risk for psychopathology and chronic health problems. These long-term negative effects have been explained through stress sensitization, which may involve dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis through either increased or decreased reactivity. The present meta-analysis assessed for the first time the effect of early-life adversity on cortisol response to social stress. Thirty data sets were included in the meta-analysis, in which early-life adversity and salivary cortisol response to social stress were assessed in 4292 individuals of different ages. Results indicated a moderate effect size (g = -0.39) in overall cortisol levels across studies. Separate analyses of cortisol at different stages of response showed large effect sizes at peak and recovery, and a moderate effect at baseline. Heterogeneity was large in this sample of studies and several moderators were identified. The effect size was larger in studies that focused on maltreatment compared to those that included other adversities, and in adults compared to children and adolescents. Percent of women in each sample and methodological quality were positive predictors of the effect size. Publication bias may be present, but the analysis was hampered by the high heterogeneity. Therefore, these results support the association between early-life adversity and blunted cortisol response to social stress, and they suggest that the long-term negative effects of early-life adversity may reach maximum levels in adults.
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“However, dysregulation of allostatic systems can manifest as either hypo- or hyper- responsiveness to stress later in life,(14–16) with consequent impairment in endogenous pain regulation.(17–19)”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Bunea, I. M., Szentágotai-Tătar, A., & Miu, A. C.
- Affiliations
- Babeș-Bolyai University (RO)
- Corresponding author
- Miu, Andrei C.
- ORCID
- Miu, Andrei C.
- Venue
- Translational Psychiatry
- Published
- 2017-12-11
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1274-1274
- ISSN
- 2158-3188 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5802499
- OpenAlex
- W2771364118
- Cited by
- 392
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 42 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 52 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 52 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 16
- FWCI
- 2.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Translational Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Unitatea Executiva pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior, a Cercetarii, Dezvoltarii si Inovarii (PN-III-P4-ID, PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016, PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0840)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- childhood adversity, cortisol response, social stress, HPA axis dysregulation, stress sensitization, child abuse, blunted cortisol response, salivary cortisol, psychopathology, chronic disease
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Life Change Events, Middle Aged, Saliva, Stress, Psychological, Young Adult
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