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Pubertal recalibration of cortisol reactivity following early life parent-child separation
Dan-Dan Zhang1, Jiao Fang1, Lei Zhang1
1Department of Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81th Meishan Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, China; Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health &Aristogenics, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
Background:
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis had been proved to calibrate to early-life adversity and puberty may reverse the calibration. This study examines the consequences of prolonged parent-child separation on HPA axis reactivity and the pubertal recalibration hypothesis.
Methods:
Totally of 144 participants aged 8.75 to 15.25 (mean age 12.50 years, SD: 1.32) were enrolled from rural areas of Chizhou city, Anhui Province of China in 2019. Data on parent-child separation was collected from parents. Self-reported Peterson Pubertal Development Scale was used to assess pubertal maturation and HPA axis stress reactivity was measured using the Trier Social Stress Test for Children.
Results:
For children at early stage of puberty, childhood parent-child separation experiences were associated with blunted HPA axis reactivity (B = -1.888, p = 0.034); while for those at later stage of puberty, HPA axis reactivity was similar between children experienced early childhood separation and those without separation (AUCi: B = -0.426, p = 0.878). In contrast, for children experienced persistent parent-child separation, blunted HPA axis reactivity was observed (all p < 0.05).
Limitations:
Due to the cross-sectional nature of this study, conclusions about causality remain speculative.
Conclusions:
The effect of parent-child separation on dysregulation of HPA axis acts in a time-dependent manner. This finding provides support for the pubertal recalibration hypothesis suggesting that a focus of improving environment in adolescence would help those individuals reared initially in non-supportive conditions.
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