Honors Tutorial College, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2021 Mar;125:105118. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.105118. Epub 2020 Dec 24.
Childhood adversity is a robust predictor of poor health outcomes in adulthood and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis dysfunction may be a key mechanism explaining this association. However, little is known about the influence childhood adversity may exhibit on adult HPA axis habituation (i.e., decreased cortisol output in response to a repeated stressor), where HPA axis dysfunction can be inferred if habituation deviates from normal patterns.
The current study used data from a larger study that examined the effects of stress management interventions on cortisol habituation to repeated stress. Eighty-three adults reported childhood adversity with the Adverse Childhood Experience scale and completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) twice (48 h apart) scheduled after a 6-wk intervention period. Salivary cortisol was assessed pre-stressor and +25, +35, and +60 mins post-stressor onset during both visits.
Results indicated that childhood adversity was associated with a marginally larger decrease in total cortisol from visit 1 to visit 2 among men (i.e., habituation), but not women (i.e. non-habituation).
These findings suggest that childhood adversity may alter HPA axis habituation to repeated stress later in life, with possible sex differences. Future research should investigate whether HPA axis habituation to repeated stress may be a pathway through which childhood adversity affects adult health, and how it may affect men and women differently.
儿童期逆境是成年后健康状况不佳的有力预测因素，而下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴功能障碍可能是解释这种关联的关键机制。然而，人们对儿童期逆境可能对成年 HPA 轴习惯化（即，对重复应激源的皮质醇反应减少）产生的影响知之甚少，如果习惯化偏离正常模式，则可以推断 HPA 轴功能障碍。
本研究使用了一项更大规模的研究的数据，该研究考察了应激管理干预对皮质醇对重复应激的习惯化的影响。83 名成年人使用不良童年经历量表报告了儿童期逆境，并在 6 周干预期后，分两次（相隔 48 小时）完成了特里尔社会应激测试（TSST）。在两次访问中，在应激前和应激后 25、35 和 60 分钟评估唾液皮质醇。
结果表明，与女性（即非习惯化）相比，童年逆境与男性从第 1 次访问到第 2 次访问的总皮质醇下降幅度更大（即习惯化）有关。
这些发现表明，儿童期逆境可能会改变成年后对重复应激的 HPA 轴习惯化，可能存在性别差异。未来的研究应调查重复应激的 HPA 轴习惯化是否可能是儿童期逆境影响成年健康的途径，以及它如何对男性和女性产生不同的影响。
