University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Dev Psychopathol. 2011 Aug;23(3):921-38. doi: 10.1017/S095457941100040X.
The concepts of allostatic load and allostatic processes can help psychologists understand how health trajectories are influenced by stressful childhood experiences in the family. This paper describes psychological pathways and two key allostatic mediators, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the immune system, through which stressful early rearing conditions may influence adult mental and physical health. The action of meshed gears is introduced as a metaphor to illustrate how responses occurring within a brief time frame, for example, immediate reactions to stressors, can influence developmental and health processes unfolding over much longer spans of time. We identify early-developing psychological and biological response patterns that could link chronic stressors in childhood to later health outcomes. Some of these "precursor outcomes" (e.g., heightened vigilance and preparedness for threats; enhanced inflammatory and humoral responses to infectious microorganisms) appear to be aimed at protection from immediate dangers; they may reflect "adaptive trade-offs" that balance short-term survival advantages under harsh rearing conditions against disadvantages manifested later in development. Our analysis also suggests mechanisms that underlie resilience in risky family environments.
适应负荷和适应过程的概念可以帮助心理学家理解，在家庭中经历的压力童年经历是如何影响健康轨迹的。本文描述了心理途径和两个关键的适应中介，下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴和免疫系统，通过这些途径，早期养育条件可能会影响成人的心理和身体健康。引入啮合齿轮的动作作为一个隐喻来说明在短时间内发生的反应，例如对压力源的即时反应，如何影响在更长时间内展开的发育和健康过程。我们确定了可能将儿童时期的慢性压力源与以后的健康结果联系起来的早期发展的心理和生物反应模式。其中一些“前导结果”（例如，对威胁的高度警惕和准备；对感染微生物的炎症和体液反应增强）似乎旨在防止即时危险；它们可能反映了“适应性权衡”，即在恶劣的养育条件下平衡短期生存优势，以克服后来在发育中表现出来的劣势。我们的分析还提出了在危险的家庭环境中具有弹性的机制。
