Ellis Bruce J, Horn Alexander J, Carter C Sue, van IJzendoorn Marinus H, Bakermans-Kranenburg Marian J
Departments of Psychology and Anthropology, University of Utah, United States.
School of Biology, University of Utah, United States; Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, United States.
Clin Psychol Rev. 2021 Jun;86:101985. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2021.101985. Epub 2021 Feb 15.
Despite evidence supporting a role for oxytocin (OT) in regulating social behavior, surprisingly little is known about how this neuropeptide is calibrated during development. We systematically reviewed empirical studies in humans (k = 86 publications reporting on 66 independent samples; N = 7319) that examined associations between early-life stress and three OT system components: endogenous OT, methylation of the OT receptor gene (OXTRm), and biological and behavioral responses to intranasally administered OT. In a series of meta-analyses, we found some evidence that people who grew up under more adverse conditions tend to have lower endogenous OT (children: r = .12; adults: r = .09), that early adversity is associated with higher levels of OXTRm (r = .02), and that adults who report lower levels of childhood adversity tend to show more positive responses to intranasally administered OT (r = .12). These results were found in typical populations, and were in most cases absent in clinical samples. We discuss these findings in terms of both the prevailing medical model (focusing on the harmful effects of early-life stress) and the adaptive calibration model (focusing on developmental adaptation of biobehavioral systems to early conditions) and suggest that an adaptation-based approach could meaningfully advance research and intervention on the sequelae of early adversity.
尽管有证据支持催产素（OT）在调节社会行为中发挥作用，但令人惊讶的是，对于这种神经肽在发育过程中是如何校准的，我们知之甚少。我们系统地回顾了关于人类的实证研究（k = 86篇报告66个独立样本的出版物；N = 7319），这些研究考察了早期生活压力与OT系统三个组成部分之间的关联：内源性OT、OT受体基因甲基化（OXTRm）以及对鼻内给药OT的生物学和行为反应。在一系列荟萃分析中，我们发现一些证据表明，在更不利条件下成长的人往往内源性OT水平较低（儿童：r = 0.12；成人：r = 0.09），早期逆境与更高水平的OXTRm相关（r = 0.02），并且报告童年逆境水平较低的成年人对鼻内给药OT往往表现出更积极的反应（r = 0.12）。这些结果在典型人群中被发现，而在大多数临床样本中则不存在。我们从主流医学模型（关注早期生活压力的有害影响）和适应性校准模型（关注生物行为系统对早期条件的发育适应）两个方面讨论了这些发现，并表明基于适应的方法可以有意义地推进对早期逆境后遗症的研究和干预。
