Negative relationships in the family-of-origin predict attenuated cortisol in emerging adults

Abstract

Negative childhood family environments have been associated with stress-related physical and psychological health consequences across the lifespan. The present study examined the relation between adverse relationships in the family of origin and physiological stress response, as measured by salivary cortisol, in emerging adulthood. Seventy-six university students (age range = 18-22) selected from intact married families-of-origin characterized by either negative (n = 39) or positive (n = 37) relationship quality engaged in a challenging role play task. Results from multilevel models indicated that those from negative families exhibited significantly lower salivary cortisol across the task than those from positive families. This relation did not change in strength or direction after controlling for experiences with abuse or recent anxiety or depressive symptoms. These findings suggest the significance of early family relationships on the long-term activity of the HPA axis. Keywords childhood family cortisol stressA considerable body of research supports an association between high-risk childhood family characteristics and negative physical and mental health outcomes throughout the life span. Family discord has been associated with the development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children and depression, anxiety, and poorer self-image in adolescents as well as adults (Burns & Dunlop, 2002;Kot & Shoemaker, 1999;Margolin et al., 2001). In addition, several studies have shown that individuals raised in high-risk family environments are at increased life-time risk for a wide range of behavioral and physical health related outcomes, including sleep disturbances, obesity, alcoholism, smoking initiation and prevalence, sexual disorders, somatic symptoms, chronic pain disorders, asthma, autoimmune disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, high blood pressure, and heart disease (Anda et al., 2006(Anda et al., , 2008Dong et al., 2004;Dube et al., 2002;Felitti et al., 1998;Lundberg, 1993;Margolin et al., 2001;Mechanic & Hansell, 1989;Repetti, Taylor, & Seeman, 2002;Weidner, et al., 1992).It has been theorized that the physical and mental health consequences of exposure to familyof-origin adversity are co-morbid outcomes of common underlying biological processes, including dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress system (Luecken Corresponding Author: Linda J. Luecken, Ph.D. Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, Phone: (480) Fax: (480) 965-8544, E-mail: Luecken@asu.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all l...

Stress-Related Changes in Attentional Bias to Social Threat in Young Adults: Psychobiological Associations with the Early Family Environment

“…First, an experimental behavioral paradigm (the dot probe) was utilized to measure automatic aspects of attention that have been previously linked to the processes of coping and emotion regulation (see Compas & Boyer, 2001 for review) and symptoms of psychopathology (see Bar-Heim et al, 2007 for review). Second, the laboratory stress task, used to learn about how individuals react and adapt to stress, has been found to be an ecologically valid example of acute stress in this population (Luecken, Kraft, & Hagan, 2009). The task also satisfies the criteria put forth by Dickerson and Kemeny (2004) that define successful laboratory stress induction paradigms by including social-evaluative, motivated performance, interpersonal aspects.…”

“…This task has been used previously by Luecken, Kraft, and Hagan (2009) and induces a mild psychological and physiological stress response due to the social interaction and feelings of social evaluation induced during the activity. Stress responses to this task have previously been measured by Luecken et al by self-report on questionnaires of pre/post-task levels of emotion as well as physiological (i.e., salivary cortisol and heart rate) data.…”

“…Although the exact mechanisms underlying these relationships remain unclear, Luecken et al (2006) present a combined cognitive-affective model to link adverse features of the early family environment to alterations in psychological and physiological stress reactivity processes, which may ultimately underlie illness vulnerability (see also Repetti, Robles, & Bridget, 2011; Repetti, Taylor, & Seeman, 2002). According to this model, prolonged exposure to psychosocial stressors during development, including even moderate levels of conflict in the early family environment, may be associated with alterations in information processing abilities that promote persisting changes in psychological and physiological responses to acute everyday stressors (Luecken et al, 2006; Luecken, Kraft, & Hagan, 2009, McEwen, 2000; Miller, Chen, & Parker, 2011). …”

The father–daughter dance: The relationship between father–daughter relationship quality and daughters' stress response.

“…Conversely, in naturalistic settings, exposure to family conflict has been associated with elevated cortisol levels for several days (Flinn, 2006). The effects of negative family relationships on the stress response system appear to persist into adulthood (Luecken, Kraft, & Hagan, 2009). …”

A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Child-Reported Maternal Warmth on Cortisol Stress Response 15 Years After Parental Divorce

“…Lower HPA stress responses have been documented in young adults from divorced families relative to those from two-parent families (36–37). Although not specific to parental divorce, studies have also noted exaggerated or attenuated patterns of cortisol activity following adversities commonly associated with parental divorce, including poor marital functioning (38), interparental conflict (39–41), poor parent-child relationships (42), and maternal depression (43). …”