Lifetime Adversity Leads to Blunted Stress Axis Reactivity: Studies from the Oklahoma Family Health Patterns Project

Abstract

Background Can stressful events in early life alter the response characteristics of the human stress axis? Individual differences in stress reactivity are considered potentially important in long-term health and disease, however little is known about the sources of these individual differences. We present evidence that adverse experience in childhood and adolescence can alter core components of the stress axis, including cortisol and heart rate reactivity. Methods We exposed 354 healthy young adults (196 women) to public speaking and mental arithmetic stressors in the laboratory. Stress responses were indexed by self-report, heart rate, and cortisol levels relative to measures on a nonstress control day. Subjects were grouped into those who had experienced 0, 1, or 2 or more significant adverse life events including Physical or Sexual Adversity (mugged, threatened with a weapon, experienced a break-in or robbery; or raped or sexually assaulted by a relative or nonrelative) or Emotional Adversity (separation from biological mother or father for at least 6 months prior to age 15). Results Experience of adversity predicted smaller heart rate and cortisol responses to the stressors in a dose-dependent fashion (0 > 1 > 2 or more events; (Fs = 5.79 and 8.11, ps < .004) for both men and women. This was not explained by differences in socioeconomic status, the underlying cortisol diurnal cycle, or subjective experience during the stress procedure. Conclusion The results indicate a long-term impact of stressful life experience on the reactivity of the human stress axis.

SKA2 Methylation is Involved in Cortisol Stress Reactivity and Predicts the Development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) After Military Deployment

“…This prediction was particularly significant in T-allele carriers (N = 77, AUC = 0.76). The relevance of inclusion of childhood trauma in this model is in line with previous studies showing the effects of childhood trauma on HPA-axis activity (Yehuda et al, 1991;Carpenter et al, 2007;Lovallo et al, 2012;Heim et al, 2000). A new predictor rule derived from the baseline SKA2 methylation that again included childhood trauma, also predicted PTSD symptoms with fairly good accuracy (AUC = 0.85, po0.001).…”

Shorter telomeres with high telomerase activity are associated with raised allostatic load and impoverished psychosocial resources

“…Although heightened stress reactivity is thought to predict future cardiovascular disease (38), reduced responsivity may be another marker of allostatic load and may reflect a failure to mount effective physiological defense responses. Thus, reduced cardiovascular and cortisol responsivity has been linked with increased risk of obesity, symptoms of depression, and poor self-rated health (39), and it is also associated with chronic adversity (40).…”

What do GPs actually know about their patients as persons?

“…There is a rapidly expanding body of knowledge regarding the impact on health of encountering adverse life experiences. It traces the general medical relevance of highly distressing experiences, in particular, those which are socially silenced, which engender secrecy and evoke shame [7,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48].…”