Longitudinal Patterns of Cortisol Regulation Differ in Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Children

Abstract

Objective Child maltreatment is associated with dysregulation of stress-mediating systems and an increased risk of mental and physical health problems. Specifically, disruptions in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation have been reported in maltreated children. The current study investigates whether increased cortisol variability is responsible for inconsistent patterns in the literature. Method This study modeled cortisol activity over 20 weeks in 187 maltreated and 154 nonmaltreated children (M = 8.4 years, SD = 1.8 years) in order to capture week-to-week cortisol patterns. Maltreatment was assessed through coding of Department of Human Services records. Children attended an after school program one day per week for 20 weeks where saliva was collected at the same time each day and subsequently assayed for cortisol. Results Multiple-group growth curves indicated that maltreated and nonmaltreated children differ in longitudinal cortisol patterns. Maltreated children showed higher variance in the initial cortisol levels and slope over time compared to nonmaltreated children, indicating greater between-person variability in the maltreated group. Maltreated children with higher cortisol at the first assessment showed cortisol suppression over time, indicating potential HPA blunting after chronic high cortisol levels. The severity, timing, and number of subtypes of maltreatment predicted individuals’ cortisol variability, and both maltreatment status and greater cortisol variability predicted more behavior problems. Conclusion Interventions for maltreated children may benefit from pre- and post-intervention HPA assessments to determine a component of treatment efficacy. As maltreatment dimensions predicted differential cortisol regulation, assessment of maltreatment experiences is necessary to understand alterations in behavior and HPA regulation post-intervention.

The impact of patterns of trauma exposure among low income children with and without histories of child maltreatment

“…Future research may also benefit from incorporating other factors that may influence the clinical impact of various patterns of trauma exposure, such as the age at which a trauma occurred, the recency of trauma, gender, type of maltreatment, and other environmental and child factors. Research has shown that this heterogeneity within exposure to adversities is critical in predicting clinical outcomes (e.g., Doom et al, 2014; Busso, McLaughlin, & Sheridan, 2016), demonstrating that children who experience the same event do not necessarily experience the same outcomes.…”

Context influences the interplay of endocrine axes across the day

“…The HPA axis is particularly susceptible to environmental contexts (Doom, Cicchetti, & Rogosch, 2014). For example, Ockenfels et al (1995) found steeper diurnal slopes for cortisol in the context of unemployment stress.…”

When mothering goes awry: Challenges and opportunities for utilizing evidence across rodent, nonhuman primate and human studies to better define the biological consequences of negative early caregiving

“…However, in these studies, the specific type of maltreatment (e.g. abuse or neglect or both) was not specified (Doom et al, 2014; Trickett et al, 2010). These convergent results in both humans and NHP suggest a temporal switch from hypercorticolism to hypocortisolism.…”