Exploring longitudinal associations between neighborhood disadvantage and cortisol levels in early childhood

Abstract

Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to experience chronic stressors that generate “wear” on stress regulatory systems including the hypothalamus– pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. This can have long-term consequences for health and well-being. Prior research has examined the role of proximal family and home contributions to HPA axis functioning. However, there is evidence to suggest that more distal levels of context, including neighborhoods, also matter. Prior evidence has primarily focused on adolescents and adults, with little evidence linking the neighborhood context with HPA activity in infancy and toddlerhood. We tested whether neighborhood disadvantage (indexed by US Census data) was associated with basal salivary cortisol levels at 7, 15, and 24 months of child age in a large sample of families (N = 1,292) residing in predominately low-income and rural communities in the United States. Multilevel models indicated that neighborhood disadvantage was positively associated with salivary cortisol levels and that this effect emerged across time. This effect was moderated by the race/ethnicity of children such that the association was only observed in White children in our sample. Findings provide preliminary evidence that the neighborhood context is associated with stress regulation during toddlerhood, elucidating a need for future work to address possible mechanisms.

Biological embedding of neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy: Influences on chronic illness via accelerated cardiometabolic age

“…Going beyond individual experiences of adversity and individual socioeconomic status, theory and evidence have suggested that the neighborhoods in which people reside are also fundamental contexts for understanding the biological embedding of social circumstances and accounting for effects on physical health and well-being (Aneshensel, 2009; Bosma et al, 2001; Causadias, 2013; Diez Roux, 2003; Finegood et al, 2017; Hill, Ross, & Angel 2005; Lei et al, 2016, 2017a; Ross & Mirowsky, 2001). This is due to the fact that individuals residing in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods are exposed to a constellation of social stressors associated with increased presence of social disorder and subculture (Anderson, 1999; Burt, Lei, & Simons, 2017; Hill et al, 2005; Latkin & Curry, 2003; Ross & Mirowsky, 2009).…”

Elevated infant cortisol is necessary but not sufficient for transmission of environmental risk to infant social development: Cross-species evidence of mother–infant physiological social transmission

“…The present study is an important contribution to a growing body of literature regarding the effects of poverty-related adversity on infant CORT activity (Blair et al, 2008; Blair et al, 2011a; Blair et al, 2011b; Blair, Berry, Mills-Koonce, Granger, & Investigators, 2013; Braren et al, 2019; Clearfield, Carter-Rodriguez, Merali, & Shober, 2014; Finegood et al, 2017; Hill-Soderlund et al, 2015). Namely, we report evidence that early-life poverty-related adversity is associated with elevated CORT levels across infancy.…”

“…Decades of research have converged on findings that environmental adversity, such as low socioeconomic status (SES) and poverty, can “get under the skin” in early life to shape the development of infant behavior and physiology (Blair & Raver, 2016; Finegood, Rarick, & Blair, 2017; Frankenhuis & Nettle, 2019; Hackman & Farah, 2009; Herzberg & Gunnar, 2019; Lipina & Posner, 2012). Early development appears to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of adversity, as evidenced by sensitive period research involving both human studies (Davidson & McEwen, 2012; Feldman, 2015; Masten & Cicchetti, 2010) and animal experiments explicating underlying causal mechanisms (Cameron, 2001; Curley & Champagne, 2016; Opendak & Sullivan, 2016; Roth & Sweatt, 2011; Upton & Sullivan, 2010).…”

Neighbourhood chaos moderates the association of socioeconomic status and child executive functioning

“…In addition to parental and household factors, an additional level of the environment to consider is the neighbour -hood. Disadvantaged neighbourhoods are linked to worse physical and mental health (Diez Roux & Mair, 2010), child verbal ability (Sampson, Sharkey, & Raudenbush, 2008), educational attainment (Boyle, Georgiades, Racine, & Mustard, 2007), cortisol functioning (Finegood, Rarick, Blair, & Investigators, 2017;Karb, Elliott, Dowd, & Morenoff, 2012;Theall, Shirtcliff, Dismukes, Wallace, & Drury, 2017), and adult cognitive functioning (Shih et al, 2011;Wight et al, 2006). Furthermore, given the relevance of assessing the experience of SES, it is important to consider families' perceptions of where they live.…”