Pre-pandemic socio-emotional vulnerability, internalizing and externalizing symptoms predict changes in hair cortisol concentrations in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in children

Raymond, Catherine; Bilodeau-Houle, Alexe; Zerroug, Yasmine; Provencher, Jessie; Beaudin, Myriam; Marin, Marie‐France

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105888

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Importantly, we found that girls showed an increase in HCC from prepandemic to during the pandemic in both the Dutch and the US samples, although statistical significance was achieved only in the former. These findings align with the study by Raymond and colleagues (2022) during COVID‐19 and with findings concerning war‐affected refugees (Dajani et al., 2018), where female sex was a significant predictor of heightened HCC. These findings support previous literature on sex differences in stress reactivity (Kudielka & Kirschbaum, 2005; Taylor et al., 2000).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…This finding was replicated in two separate samples from different cultural backgrounds and when compared to a cross-sectional age-matched US-based prepandemic sample. Nevertheless, these results contradict previous evidence of increased HCC in response to the pandemic in children, adolescents, and adults (Fung et al, 2022;Jia et al, 2023;Raymond et al, 2022;Taylor et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 90%

“…Previous earthquake studies showed that increases in hair cortisol were meaningful in the immediate aftermath of the stressor (2-5 months) but not later (Gao et al, 2014;Luo et al, 2012). Our results may converge with this idea since we ing an increase in children's and adolescents' HCC, it was indeed the case that cortisol changes were evaluated in the same strand of hair, comparing 3-month concentrations prepandemic to those 3-months postpandemic (Raymond et al, 2022) or throughout the first 4 months into the pandemic (Fung et al, 2022;Taylor et al, 2022). Likewise, in adults, an increase in HCC was reported in the first 4-5 months of the pandemic (Jia et al, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…As suggested in another study of war refugees, the uncertainty around the situation, rather than psychosocial factors, was the main predictor of increases in hair cortisol (Dajani et al., 2018). In the COVID‐19 studies reporting an increase in children's and adolescents’ HCC, it was indeed the case that cortisol changes were evaluated in the same strand of hair, comparing 3‐month concentrations prepandemic to those 3‐months postpandemic (Raymond et al., 2022) or throughout the first 4 months into the pandemic (Fung et al., 2022; Taylor et al., 2022). Likewise, in adults, an increase in HCC was reported in the first 4–5 months of the pandemic (Jia et al., 2023).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, these stress responses may impact individuals differently depending on sex and prior stress history. Studies have found that females may be more vulnerable to increased HCC in response to stress (Dajani et al., 2018; Raymond et al., 2022). In sum, these findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences in stress psychophysiological reactivity and vulnerability in disaster and pandemic response efforts, especially in a period of sensitivity for HPA axis programming, that is, late childhood/adolescence (Hawes et al., 2022; Meichenbaum & Cameron, 1989; Romeo, 2010; Vacaru et al., 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adolescents’ hair cortisol concentrations during COVID‐19: Evidence from two longitudinal studies in the Netherlands and the United States

Vacaru,

Parenteau,

et al. 2023

Developmental Psychobiology

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Background: Prolonged stress exposure is associated with alterations in cortisol output. The COVID‐19 pandemic represented a stressor for many, including children. However, a high‐quality caregiving environment may protect against psychological problems and possibly against elevations in cortisol. We examined adolescents’ physiological stress responses to the pandemic and the role of attachment in two longitudinal samples from the Netherlands and the United States (https://aspredicted.org/HHY_8MK). Methods: Cortisol was assessed from hair samples before and during the pandemic, while attachment was self‐reported prepandemic. Study 1 included a Dutch sample (N = 158; examined at ages 10 and later at 14 years old), whereas Study 2 included a US sample (N = 153; examined at ages 9–11 and again 2 years later) and an age‐matched prepandemic sample (N = 29, 10–13 years old). Repeated‐measures analyses of variance examined changes in cortisol from prepandemic to during the pandemic and the effect of attachment in each sample separately. Results: After accounting for age, both studies revealed nonsignificant changes in hair cortisol and a nonsignificant effect of attachment. A significant effect of sex emerged in Study 1, with Dutch girls showing a significant cortisol increase during the pandemic, which was not explained by puberty. Conclusion: These findings suggest differential associations of the pandemic with hair cortisol increases by sex and country.

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