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Maternal stress beginning in infancy may sensitize children to later stress exposure: effects on cortisol and
Marilyn J Essex1, Marjorie H Klein, Eunsuk Cho
1Department of Psychiatry, Wisconsin Psychiatric Institute and Clinics, University of Wisconsin, 6001 Research Park Boulevard, Madison, WI 53719, USA.
Insights
Early maternal stress sensitizes children
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Neuroendocrinology
- Childhood stress research
Background:
- Neonatal environment impacts stress responses.
- Maternal stress in infancy may alter child development.
- Human studies are needed to confirm preclinical findings.
Purpose of the Study:
- Examine maternal stress effects on children's HPA axis.
- Investigate links between early stress and later mental health.
- Determine if early maternal stress sensitizes children to stress.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study of 282 preschoolers and 154 siblings.
- Assessed salivary cortisol levels at 4.5 years.
- Collected maternal stress reports from infancy to 4.5 years; assessed child mental health in first grade.
Main Results:
- Concurrent maternal stress linked to elevated preschooler cortisol.
- Children with elevated cortisol and concurrent stress had early maternal stress exposure.
- Maternal depression in infancy most strongly predicted child cortisol.
- High cortisol in preschoolers correlated with more first-grade mental health symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Early maternal stress exposure sensitizes children's HPA axis.
- Findings link preclinical stress research to human development.
- Early life stress has lasting impacts on stress reactivity and mental health.
Background:
Preclinical studies demonstrate that the neonatal environment can permanently alter an individual's responses to stress. To demonstrate a similar phenomenon in humans, we prospectively examined the relationships of maternal stress beginning in infancy and concurrent stress on preschoolers' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity and later mental health symptoms.
Methods:
Salivary cortisol levels were assessed in 282 4.5-year-old children and 154 of their siblings. Maternal reports of stress were obtained when the children were ages 1, 4, and 12 months, and again at 4.5 years. Children's mental health symptoms were assessed in first grade.
Results:
A cross-sectional analysis revealed that preschoolers exposed to high levels of concurrent maternal stress had elevated cortisol levels; however, a longitudinal analysis revealed that concurrently stressed children with elevated cortisol also had a history of high maternal stress exposure in infancy. Importantly, children exposed only to high levels of concurrent or early stress had cortisol levels that did not significantly differ from those never exposed to stress. Further analysis of the components of stress indicated that maternal depression beginning in infancy was the most potent predictor of children's cortisol. We also found that preschoolers with high cortisol levels exhibited greater mental health symptoms in first grade.
Conclusions:
These results link the findings of preclinical studies to humans by showing that exposure to early maternal stress may sensitize children's pituitary-adrenal responses to subsequent stress exposure.