Prospective effects of post‐bereavement negative events on cortisol activity in parentally bereaved youth

Hagan, Melissa J.; Luecken, Linda J.; Sandler, Irwin N.; Tein, Jenn-Yun

doi:10.1002/dev.20433

Cited by 27 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Varied patterns of cortisol activity (e.g., higher and lower basal cortisol, attenuated or exaggerated cortisol reactivity) have been documented among individuals who experienced parental loss or chronic adversity in childhood (Bloch et al 2007; Flinn et al 1996; Hagan et al 2010; Meinlschmidt and Heim 2005; Nicolson 2004; Pfeffer et al 2007), with little understanding of the factors that explain these variable outcomes. The current study adds to the literature on the long-term consequences of childhood parental loss by highlighting the interaction of proximal (e.g., negative life events in the last year) and distal factors (e.g., quality of parenting several years prior) in predicting neuroendocrine functioning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive parenting during childhood moderates the impact of recent negative events on cortisol activity in parentally bereaved youth

et al. 2010

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Rationale Early parental loss has been associated with neuroendocrine dysregulation in youth; however, the form of cortisol dysregulation varies widely. Identifying risk and protective factors that influence physiological regulation has important implications for understanding the development of mental health problems in parentally bereaved youth. Objectives The current study investigated the prospective effects of positive parenting on the relation between recent negative life events and cortisol activity in adolescents/young adults several years after bereavement. Methods Positive parenting was assessed an average of 18.5 months following parental death. Six years later, adolescents/young adults (N=55) reported on exposure to recent negative life events, and salivary cortisol was assessed before and after a conflict discussion task with their caregiver. The interaction between positive parenting and exposure to recent negative events was used to predict total cortisol output and response to the task. Results Multilevel modeling and the probing of the interaction effect demonstrated that total cortisol output increased with greater exposure to recent negative events among those with lower levels of past positive parenting. These relations were significant over and above current internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Conclusions The current results highlight the need to consider the interactive influence of proximal and distal factors on neuroendocrine functioning for youth exposed to early parental loss.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive parenting during childhood moderates the impact of recent negative events on cortisol activity in parentally bereaved youth

et al. 2010

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“…Similarly, children's grief reactions are coconstructed and facilitated by their caregivers (Clark et al, 1994). When caregiver facilitation of grief and mourning is disrupted to a significant degree (e.g., by parental depression or maladaptive grief) or disrupted altogether (by the subsequent loss of the surviving caregiver), the child is at substantially higher risk for experiencing clinically significant psychological distress (Brown et al, 2008;Lin et al, 2004), alterations of biological stress systems (e.g., hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation; Hagan, Luecken, Sandler, & Tein, 2010;Kaplow, Prossin, Shapiro, Wardecker, & Abelson, 2011), and derailment from a normal developmental trajectory (Lieberman et al, 2003).…”

Section: The Role Of the Social Environment In Childhood Bereavementmentioning

confidence: 99%

DSM-V Diagnostic Criteria for Bereavement-Related Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Developmental Considerations

Kaplow¹,

Layne²,

Pynoos³

et al. 2012

Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes

129

114

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Two bereavement-related disorders are proposed for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V): Adjustment Disorder Related to Bereavement, to be located in the main body of the text as an official diagnostic entity; and Bereavement-Related Disorder, including a Traumatic Death Specifier, to be located in the Appendix as an invitation for further research. These diagnoses currently do not include developmentally informed criteria, despite the importance of developmental processes in the ways children and adolescents grieve. In this article, we draw upon a selective review of the empirical literature and expert clinical knowledge to recommend developmentally informed modifications and specifiers of the proposed criteria for both bereavement disorders and strategies to improve future research. This article is derived from an invited report submitted to the DSM-V Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Trauma, and Dissociative Disorders Sub-Work Group, and suggested modifications have received preliminary approval to be incorporated into the DSM-V at the time of this writing. Adoption of these proposals will have far-reaching consequences, given that DSM-V criteria will influence both critical treatment choices for bereaved youth and the next generation of research studies.

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“…Young adults who experienced parental loss were found to show an exaggerated cortisol response to social stress compared with nonbereaved control subjects (25). In another sample of parentally bereaved youth, lower total cortisol output was associated with greater exposure to negative life events, and lower cortisol levels across an acute stress task was associated with externalizing symptoms (26, 27). …”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Cortisol Response to Social Stress in Parentally Bereaved Youth

Dietz¹,

Stoyak²,

Melhem³

et al. 2013

Biological Psychiatry

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Background Parental bereavement is associated with increased risk for psychiatric illness and functional impairment in youth. Dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning may be one pathway through which bereaved children experience increased risk for poor outcomes. However, few studies have prospectively examined the association between parental bereavement and cortisol response while accounting for psychiatric disorders in both youth and their caregivers. Methods One-hundred and eighty-one bereaved and nonbereaved offspring and their caregivers were assessed at multiple time points over a 5-year period after parental death. Offspring participated in an adaptation of the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST), and salivary cortisol samples were collected before and after exposure to social stressors. Mixed models for repeated measures were used to analyze the effects of bereavement status, psychiatric disorder in both offspring and caregiver, and demographic indices on trajectories of cortisol response. Results After controlling for demographic variables and offspring depression, bereaved offspring demonstrated significantly different trajectories of cortisol response compared with nonbereaved offspring, characterized by higher total cortisol output and an absence of cortisol reactivity to acute social stress. Within the bereaved group, offspring of parents who died by sudden natural death demonstrated significant cortisol reactivity to social stress compared with offspring whose parents died by suicide, who demonstrated more blunted trajectory of cortisol response. Conclusions Parentally bereaved youth demonstrate higher cortisol output than nonbereaved youth but are less able to mount an acute response in the face of social stressors.

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Prospective effects of post‐bereavement negative events on cortisol activity in parentally bereaved youth

Cited by 27 publications

References 31 publications

Positive parenting during childhood moderates the impact of recent negative events on cortisol activity in parentally bereaved youth

Positive parenting during childhood moderates the impact of recent negative events on cortisol activity in parentally bereaved youth

DSM-V Diagnostic Criteria for Bereavement-Related Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Developmental Considerations

Cortisol Response to Social Stress in Parentally Bereaved Youth

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