Peer Problems Among Postinstitutionalized, Internationally Adopted Children: Relations to Hypocortisolism, Parenting Quality, and ADHD Symptoms

Pitula, Clio; DePasquale, Carrie E.; Mliner, Shanna B.; Gunnar, Megan R.

doi:10.1111/cdev.12986

Cited by 44 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…However, both hyper‐ and hypoactivity of the HPA axis are associated with adverse health outcomes, as discussed in the allostatic load model of adaptation to chronic stress (Juster, McEwen, & Lupien, ). In PI children, hypoactivity of the HPA axis following early institutional care is associated with deficits in attention and behavior regulation, as well as higher levels of externalizing symptoms (Koss et al., ; Kroupina et al., ; Pitula, DePasquale, Mliner, & Gunnar, ). A key question for the field, however, is whether hypoactivity of the HPA axis persists throughout development in PI youth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pubertal recalibration of cortisol reactivity following early life stress: a cross‐sectional analysis

DePasquale

Donzella

Gunnar

2018

Child Psychology Psychiatry

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Background Children adopted from orphanages or other such institutions tend to display blunted reactivity to stressors – even years after arriving in their generally supportive and highly resourced postadoption homes. Puberty, a proposed sensitive period for environmental influences on stress‐mediating systems, may provide an opportunity for postinstitutionalized children to recalibrate stress response systems in accordance with their now more supportive living situations. Methods This cross‐sectional study examined the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenocortical (HPA)‐axis reactivity of 280 children ages 7 through 14 years; 122 children were adopted from institutions in 14 countries between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, after spending an average of 95% of their lives in institutional care, and 158 children of similarly high socioeconomic status in their biological families served as the nonadopted comparison group. All of the children were assessed by nurses for Tanner stage and, on a different day, completed the Trier Social Stress Test for Children. Results Using a linear mixed‐effects model and seven measures of salivary cortisol, results indicated that early‐pubertal postinstitutionalized children showed blunted HPA axis reactivity compared to nonadopted children, but mid/late‐pubertal postinstitutionalized children displayed higher reactivity similar to the nonadopted comparison children. Conclusions This is the first evidence of possible pubertal recalibration of HPA axis reactivity to a psychosocial stressor in postinstitutionalized children, which provides a promising avenue for future research regarding the protective factors of the postadoption environment and subsequent physiological, behavioral, and psychopathological outcomes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pubertal recalibration of cortisol reactivity following early life stress: a cross‐sectional analysis

DePasquale

Donzella

Gunnar

2018

Child Psychology Psychiatry

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“…Adoption research has shown that past and present experiences interact in complex ways. Pitula, DePasquale, Milner, and Gunnar (2017) indicated that early institutional deprivation predicts problems with peers only in the context of low adoptive parenting quality. The moderating role of parenting quality has also been seen in the relationships between accumulative preadoption risks and adoptees' adaptive behavior (Kriebel & Wentzel, 2011) as well as indiscriminate friendliness (Garvin et al, 2012).…”

Section: Moderating Role Of Postadoption Parentingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adopted Children's Social Competence: The Interplay Between Past and Present Influences

et al. 2019

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Objective To explore potential postadoption moderators of the link between preadoption experiences and adoptees' social competence. Background In the context of the limited and inconsistent knowledge about adopted children's social competence, our hypotheses concern the interplay between preadoption parental neglect and adoptive parents' emotion socialization practices. Method With adopters as informants, the social competence of 97 Portuguese school‐age children was evaluated in terms of social skills and competing problem behaviors, using the Social Skills Improvement System‐Rating Scale. Children's preadoption experiences (using a sociodemographic questionnaire) and parental emotion socialization (evaluated by the Coping with Children's Negative Emotions Scale) were also assessed. Results Time since adoption and unsupportive adoptive parents' responses moderated the relationship between preadoption parental neglect and adoptees' social skills. Unsupportive adoptive parents' responses exacerbated the effects of preadoption neglect. This moderation was stronger with longer postadoption time. Conclusion Added to preadoption parental neglect, unsupportive adoptive parenting accentuates the risks for adoptees' social competence. Implications Adoptive parents should be informed that socialization practices concerning children's negative emotions are associated with adopted children's social competence.

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“…Post‐institutionalized children also show deficits in attention and behavior regulation, including increased rates of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, externalizing behavior, and poorer executive function abilities (Bos, Fox, Zeanah, & Nelson, ; Gunnar, Van Dulmen, & IAP Team, ; Humphreys & Zeanah, ; Juffer et al, ; Kreppner, O’Connor, Rutter, & ERA Study Team, ). These deficits are partially mediated by flatter diurnal and reactivity cortisol slopes (Koss et al, ; Pitula, DePasquale, Mliner, & Gunnar, ). These deficits tend to persist for years, even after the children have been adopted into well‐resourced families (Gunnar et al, ; Sonuga‐Barke, Schlotz, & Kreppner, ; Tieman, van der Ende, & Verhulst, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research has shown that these deficits impair post‐institutionalized children's ability to form positive social relationships with peers ( Pitula et al, ; Roy, Rutter, & Pickles, ). Post‐institutionalized children's behavior may be frustrating to other children, resulting in rejection and victimization (Pitula et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research has shown that these deficits impair postinstitutionalized children's ability to form positive social relationships with peers ( Pitula et al, 2017;Roy, Rutter, & Pickles, 2004). may also influence the development of self-regulation skills over time, for example improving adrenocortical regulation and reducing the incidence of behavioral problems (Alink, Cicchetti, Kim, & Rogosch, 2012;Bornstein, Hahn, & Hayes, 2010;Lueken, Rubinov, & Tanaka, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Affective attunement in peer dyads containing children adopted from institutions

DePasquale

Gunnar

2019

Developmental Psychobiology

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Children who have experienced institutional care early in life tend to show deficits in behavioral and adrenocortical regulation that impact their ability to form friendships and have positive social interactions with peers. Understanding how post‐institutionalized children interact with unfamiliar peers and the factors that predict the quality of these interactions may shed light on the processes contributing to the persistent, often increasing social deficits seen in post‐institutionalized children. In this study, one child (either post‐institutionalized or non‐adopted; the “target”) interacted with another non‐adopted child (the “peer”; N = 58 dyads, M age = 9.65 years) through a series of competitive and cooperative games during which interaction quality and affect of each participant were coded. Three saliva samples were also collected from each participant to measure cortisol production across the session. No group differences in behavior, affect, or cortisol were found. However, non‐adopted target children's affect was positively associated with their peers’ affect and negatively associated with peers’ change in cortisol across the session, while post‐institutionalized target children's affect was not associated with their peers’ affect or cortisol. Thus, future interventions may want to promote social skills in children exposed to early adversity by focusing on dyadic social contingencies rather than individual behavior.

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Peer Problems Among Postinstitutionalized, Internationally Adopted Children: Relations to Hypocortisolism, Parenting Quality, and ADHD Symptoms

Cited by 44 publications

References 69 publications

Pubertal recalibration of cortisol reactivity following early life stress: a cross‐sectional analysis

Pubertal recalibration of cortisol reactivity following early life stress: a cross‐sectional analysis

Adopted Children's Social Competence: The Interplay Between Past and Present Influences

Affective attunement in peer dyads containing children adopted from institutions

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