Bönke Luisa, Aust Sabine, Fan Yan, Wirth Katharina, Khawli Elissa, Stevense Amie, Herrera Ana, Loayza Andrea, Bajbouj Malek, Grimm Simone
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt - Universität zu Berlin, And Berlin Institute of Health, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12203, Berlin, Germany.
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland.
Neurobiol Stress. 2018 Dec 17;10:100142. doi: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2018.100142. eCollection 2019 Feb.
Early life stress (ELS) is associated with altered stress reactivity and an increased risk for the development of psychopathological conditions in later life. However, depending on whether autonomic or endocrine measures were used as indicators of stress reactivity, previous studies reported conflicting findings of either increased or decreased stress reactivity after ELS experience. In the present study we therefore aimed to investigate the effect of ELS on both autonomic and endocrine indicators (heart rate and salivary cortisol) of individual stress reactivity and applied a psychosocial stress task in a sample of healthy participants with and without exposure to mild to moderate ELS. Results showed no significant effects of ELS on autonomic and endocrine indicators of individual stress reactivity. Importantly though, heart rate proved as more sensitive than salivary cortisol with regard to differentiating between stress and control conditions and thereby as a more feasible indicator of an individual's stress reactivity. Accordingly, our data suggest that sole reliance on salivary cortisol as an indicator of stress reactivity might lead to an oversight of more subtle effects of psychosocial stress.
早期生活应激（ELS）与应激反应性改变以及晚年出现精神病理状况的风险增加有关。然而，根据自主神经或内分泌指标是否被用作应激反应性的指标，先前的研究报告了相互矛盾的结果，即ELS经历后应激反应性是增加还是降低。因此，在本研究中，我们旨在调查ELS对个体应激反应性的自主神经和内分泌指标（心率和唾液皮质醇）的影响，并在有或没有暴露于轻度至中度ELS的健康参与者样本中应用了一项心理社会应激任务。结果显示，ELS对个体应激反应性的自主神经和内分泌指标没有显著影响。不过重要的是，在区分应激和对照条件方面，心率比唾液皮质醇更敏感，因此是个体应激反应性更可行的指标。相应地，我们的数据表明，仅依赖唾液皮质醇作为应激反应性的指标可能会导致忽视心理社会应激的更细微影响。
