University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Dev Psychopathol. 2011 Aug;23(3):859-71. doi: 10.1017/S0954579411000356.
The goal of this study was to examine whether growth delay can serve as an index of allostatic load during early development, as it is well known that the activity of stress-mediating systems inhibits growth. The participants were children adopted internationally from institutional care (n = 36), children adopted internationally from foster care (n = 26), and nonadopted children (n = 35). For the adopted children, height for age and weight for height were assessed at adoption; for all children, disinhibited social approach (DSA; termed elsewhere as "indiscriminate friendliness") and diurnal cortisol were assessed at 6-8 years (M = 6.9 years). For internationally adopted children in general, and postinstitutionalized children specifically, linear growth delay assessed at the time of adoption was associated with more dysregulated behavior in response to an unfamiliar adult (i.e., greater DSA) and a more dysregulated diurnal cortisol rhythm (i.e., higher late afternoon and evening values). Further, among the most growth-delayed children, higher cortisol levels later in the day were correlated with DSA. The potential for using growth delay as an allostatic load indicator and the possible problems and limitations in its use in child populations are discussed.
本研究旨在探讨生长迟缓是否可以作为早期发育期间应激负荷的指标，因为众所周知，应激调节系统的活动会抑制生长。参与者包括从机构照料中被国际收养的儿童（n=36）、从寄养照料中被国际收养的儿童（n=26）和未被收养的儿童（n=35）。对于被收养的儿童，在收养时评估其身高与年龄比和体重与身高比；对于所有儿童，在 6-8 岁时评估其抑制解除的社会接近（DSA；在其他地方称为“无差别友好”）和日间皮质醇。对于一般的国际收养儿童，特别是那些曾经在机构中生活过的儿童，在收养时评估的线性生长迟缓与对陌生成年人的行为更为失调（即更大的 DSA）以及更失调的日间皮质醇节律（即下午晚些时候和晚上的皮质醇值更高）有关。此外，在生长迟缓最严重的儿童中，当天晚些时候皮质醇水平较高与 DSA 呈正相关。讨论了将生长迟缓用作应激负荷指标的潜力，以及在儿童群体中使用该指标可能存在的问题和局限性。
