Hair cortisol concentration in preschoolers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms—Roles of gender and family adversity

Pauli‐Pott, Ursula; Schloß, Susan; Ruhl, Isabelle; Skoluda, Nadine; Nater, Urs M.; Becker, Katja

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.09.002

Cited by 30 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…One recent sample has revealed that sex moderated the association between HCCs and attention, in that HCCs were associated with attention problems in kindergarten boys, but not in girls (Pauli-Pott et al, 2017;Schloß et al, 2018). Together, these studies suggest that contextual experiences of boys and girls differ, and HCCs may operate differently among boys compared to girls.…”

Section: Sex Differences In Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Developmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

Biological sensitivity to context in Pakistani preschoolers: Hair cortisol and family wealth are interactively associated with girls’ cognitive skills

Armstrong‐Carter

Finch

Siyal

et al. 2020

Developmental Psychobiology

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Children's stress physiology can shed light on which children are more or less susceptible to contextual experiences (Obradović, 2016). Over the last decade, researchers have identified concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol in the hair shaft as a promising biomarker indexing the long-term, chronic impact of adversity on functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (Bates, Salsberry, & Ford, 2017). However, links between hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs), adversity, and young children's development have only been tested in a few studies of children from high-income countries. The goal of the present study was to examine whether HCCs were related to cognitive development in preschoolers from rural Pakistan, a lower middle-income country. Furthermore, we examined whether HCCs served as a marker of biological sensitivity to children's family contexts by moderating the effects of family socioeconomic resources at birth on preschoolers' verbal intelligence, pre-academic skills, and executive functions (EFs).

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Section: Sex Differences In Hair Cortisol and Cognitive Developmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

Biological sensitivity to context in Pakistani preschoolers: Hair cortisol and family wealth are interactively associated with girls’ cognitive skills

Armstrong‐Carter

Finch

Siyal

et al. 2020

Developmental Psychobiology

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“…Accordingly, we recently analyzed moderator effects by gender of child. We found a significant interaction effect between gender and ADHD symptoms on the hair cortisol concentration (HCC) of the child, indicating a negative association between ADHD symptoms and HCC in preschool boys but not in girls (Pauli‐Pott et al, ). We speculated that the identification of the moderator effect by gender was facilitated by the use of HCC, and that the less pronounced link in girls might reflect the female protective effect against ADHD recently described by Taylor et al (): Several genetic and environmental factors explained less variance in ADHD symptoms in girls than in boys.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…In the present study, we aim to assess an attenuated long-term basal functioning of the HPA axis, which we assume will predict the emerging behavioral symptoms of ADHD. For this purpose, we used the hair cortisol concentration (HCC), which appears to reliably and validly capture the accumulated, integrated long-term activity of the HPA axis (Kirschbaum et al, 1990;Short et al, 2016;Stalder et al, 2017).While one previous study used HCC in the context of externalizing symptoms in maltreatment (White et al, 2017), to our knowledge, the present longitudinal study (see Pauli-Pott et al, 2017 for another article from this study) is the first to use HCC in the context of ADHD.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Low hair cortisol concentration and emerging attention‐deficit/hyperactivity symptoms in preschool age

Schloß

Ruhl

Müller

et al. 2018

Developmental Psychobiology

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Previous research demonstrated hypoactivity of the HPA axis in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or externalizing symptoms. We analyzed the predictive association between the long-term HPA axis activity and increasing symptoms of ADHD in the preschool period. The sample consisted of n = 125 4-year-old children and their families (including n = 64 children with elevated ADHD symptoms). ADHD symptoms were assessed by a structured clinical interview with the mother and by parent- and teacher-report questionnaires. The long-term HPA axis activity was assessed by the hair cortisol concentration (HCC) (over a 3-month period). After controlling for potential confounders, low HCC predicted an increase in ADHD symptoms between the age of 4 and 5 years. Exploration of gender effects revealed that cross-sectional and predictive associations were significant in boys but not in girls. Low HCC might thus be regarded as an early marker of a possibly gender-related developmental pathway to ADHD.

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“…19 Similar to findings from previous research using salivary cortisol, 20 lower HCC was found to be associated with symptom severity in preschool boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 21 Associations were more pronounced in children experiencing family adversity, and it was suggested that lower HCC may reflect HPA dysregulation due to compounding adversities in boys. 21 Having a CPI in childhood is considered a type of childhood adversity 7 that can negatively impact children and families.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…21 Associations were more pronounced in children experiencing family adversity, and it was suggested that lower HCC may reflect HPA dysregulation due to compounding adversities in boys. 21 Having a CPI in childhood is considered a type of childhood adversity 7 that can negatively impact children and families. 22–27 It is therefore not uncommon for children diagnosed with CPIs to experience higher rates of mental disorder.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hair Cortisol Concentration and Mental Disorder in Children With Chronic Physical Illness

et al. 2019

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Background To examine changes in hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) in children with chronic physical illness and identify patterns of association between HCC and mental comorbidity. Methods A sample of 50 children aged 6 to 16 years were recruited within six months of being diagnosed with a chronic physical illness. Data were collected via hair samples, structured interviews, and behavioral checklists. Results There was no change in HCC over six months. Baseline HCC was associated with internalizing—odds ratio (OR) = 1.29 (90% confidence interval (CI): 1.01–1.66)—and externalizing disorders—OR = 1.32 (90% CI: 1.07–1.64). Externalizing disorder at six months was associated with elevated baseline—OR = 1.25 (90% CI: 1.02–1.53)—and six-month HCC—OR = 1.25 (90% CI: 1.02–1.54). Associations between HCC and mental disorder weakened over time, and for internalizing disorders, changed direction (i.e., inverse association), albeit not significantly. Conclusion Results provide preliminary evidence that physiological stress, measured using HCC, may be implicated in the relationship between physical and mental illness, and these associations align with attenuated stress responses over time.

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Hair cortisol concentration in preschoolers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity symptoms—Roles of gender and family adversity

Cited by 30 publications

References 45 publications

Biological sensitivity to context in Pakistani preschoolers: Hair cortisol and family wealth are interactively associated with girls’ cognitive skills

Biological sensitivity to context in Pakistani preschoolers: Hair cortisol and family wealth are interactively associated with girls’ cognitive skills

Low hair cortisol concentration and emerging attention‐deficit/hyperactivity symptoms in preschool age

Hair Cortisol Concentration and Mental Disorder in Children With Chronic Physical Illness

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