Akasaki Mifuyu, Steptoe Andrew, Hardy Rebecca
Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; UCL Social Research Institute, Institute of Education, University College London, United Kingdom; Department of Behavioural Science and Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, University College London, United Kingdom.
Department of Behavioural Science and Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, University College London, United Kingdom.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2025 Mar;173:107359. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107359. Epub 2025 Jan 18.
Dysregulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) and of the autonomic nervous system may link stress throughout the life course with poorer health. This study aims to investigate whether multiple adverse childhood experiences have a long-term impact on markers of these systems - cortisol secretion and heart rate variability - in adulthood. Data were from the Whitehall II cohort study. Fourteen adversities, collected retrospectively in midlife, were considered. Outcomes were total amount of cortisol secretion during the day (area under the curve [AUC]), cortisol awakening response (CAR), and diurnal slope, estimated from six saliva samples taken on a weekday; and resting heart rate (rHR) and heart rate variability (HRV) measured for five minutes at three time points over 10 years with the last measures taken at the same time as the salivary measurement. Regression models were used to examine the association of adversities with AUC, CAR, rHR and HRV and multilevel modelling was applied to analyses of cortisol diurnal slope and the 10-year follow-up of rHR and HRV. At least one early life adversity was reported by 68 % of participants. There was little evidence that increasing number of adversities was associated with any measures of cortisol, rHR or HRV or 10-year change in rHR or HRV. Of the individual adversities, only parental death was associated with increased AUC and CAR. In conclusion, although the HPA axis and autonomic nervous system have been hypothesized as mechanisms relating to adverse childhood experiences with health, our study finds no evidence to support this.
下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴（HPA轴）和自主神经系统的失调可能会将一生中的压力与较差的健康状况联系起来。本研究旨在调查多种童年不良经历是否会对成年期这些系统的标志物——皮质醇分泌和心率变异性——产生长期影响。数据来自白厅II队列研究。研究考虑了在中年时回顾性收集的14种逆境情况。研究结果包括日间皮质醇分泌总量（曲线下面积[AUC]）、皮质醇觉醒反应（CAR）和昼夜斜率，这些是根据工作日采集的6份唾液样本估算得出；以及静息心率（rHR）和心率变异性（HRV），在10年中的三个时间点测量5分钟，最后一次测量与唾液测量同时进行。使用回归模型来检验逆境与AUC、CAR、rHR和HRV之间的关联，并应用多水平模型分析皮质醇昼夜斜率以及rHR和HRV的10年随访情况。68%的参与者报告至少有一次早年生活逆境。几乎没有证据表明逆境数量的增加与皮质醇、rHR或HRV的任何测量指标或rHR或HRV的10年变化有关。在个体逆境中，只有父母死亡与AUC和CAR的增加有关。总之，尽管HPA轴和自主神经系统被假设为与童年不良经历和健康相关的机制，但我们的研究没有发现支持这一观点的证据。
