Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Dev Psychopathol. 2011 Nov;23(4):1069-87. doi: 10.1017/S0954579411000502.
Psychobiological models of allostatic load have delineated the effects of multiple processes that contribute to risk for psychopathology. This approach has been fruitful, but the interactive contributions of allostatic and environmental load remain understudied in early childhood. Because this developmental period encompasses the emergence of internalizing problems and biological sensitivity to early experiences, this is an important time to examine this process. In two studies, we examined allostatic and environmental load and links to subsequent internalizing and externalizing problems. Study 1 examined relations between load indices and maladjustment, concurrently and at multiple times between age 2 and kindergarten; Study 2 added more comprehensive risk indices in a sample following a group of highly fearful toddlers from 2 to 3 years of age. Results from both studies showed that increased allostatic load related to internalizing problems as environmental risk also increased. Study 2, in addition, showed that fearfulness interacted with allostatic and environmental load indices to predict greater anxiety among the fearful children who had high levels of allostatic and environmental load. Taken together, the findings support a model of risk for internalizing characterized by the interaction of biological and environmental stressors, and demonstrate the importance of considering individual differences and environmental context in applying models of allostatic load to developmental change in early childhood.
应激反应的心理生物学模型描述了多种导致精神病理学风险的过程的影响。这种方法已经取得了丰硕的成果，但应激反应和环境负荷的相互作用在儿童早期仍未得到充分研究。由于这一发展时期包括内化问题的出现和对早期经验的生物敏感性，因此现在是研究这一过程的重要时期。在两项研究中，我们研究了应激反应和环境负荷以及与随后的内化和外化问题的联系。研究 1 同时在 2 岁至幼儿园期间的多个时间点上，考察了负荷指标与适应不良之间的关系；研究 2 在从 2 岁到 3 岁的一组高度恐惧幼儿中增加了更全面的风险指标。两项研究的结果均表明，随着环境风险的增加，应激反应负荷的增加与内化问题有关。此外，研究 2 表明，恐惧与应激反应和环境负荷指标相互作用，预测了应激反应和环境负荷水平较高的恐惧儿童的焦虑程度更高。综上所述，这些发现支持了一种内化风险模型，该模型的特点是生物和环境压力源的相互作用，并表明在将应激反应负荷模型应用于儿童早期发展变化时，考虑个体差异和环境背景的重要性。
