Associations between developmental trajectories of peer victimization, hair cortisol, and depressive symptoms: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Background: Peer victimization has been associated with long-lasting risks for mental health. Prior research suggests that stress-related systems underlying adaptation to changing environments may be at play. To date, inconsistent findings have been reported for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and its end product cortisol. This study tested whether peer victimization was associated with hair cortisol concentrations (HCC), and whether this association varied according to sex, timing, and changes in exposure. We also examined whether peer victimization differentially predicted depressive symptoms according to HCC. Methods: The sample comprised 556 adolescents (42.0%; 231 males) who provided hair for cortisol measurement at 17 years of age. Peer victimization was reported at seven occasions between the ages of 6 and 15 years. Results: Peer victimization was nonlinearly associated with HCC for boys only, whereas changes in peer victimization were related to HCC for boys and girls. Peer victimization predicted more depressive symptoms for all participants, except those with lower HCC. Conclusions: Our findings provide further support for persistent dysregulation of the HPA axis following exposure to chronic adversity, of which the expression may change according to sex and the severity of victimization.

Cohort Profile: Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD)

“…A total of 556 participants provided enough hair for cortisol measurement, ofwhom most also provided saliva for DNA ascertainment. The hair samples were assayed in duplicate after wash and steroid extraction procedures using a luminescence immunoassay [10,11].…”

“…Several studies have described the developmental trajectories, risk factors, and consequences of peer victimisation across childhood [11,28,31,46,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69]. For instance, it was shown for the first time that a small but significant group of children start experiencing stable peer difficulties as early as age 3 years [67].…”

“…These studies also identified family-level (e.g., insufficient income, harsh parenting) and individual-level (e.g., physical aggression, high body mass index [BMI], internalising behaviours) risk factors of frequent exposure to peer victimisation [31,46,[66][67][68]. Finally, short-and long-term negative outcomes associated with peer victimisation include increased risk of internalising symptoms and suicidal ideation/attempt [64,65,69], poor educational achievement [28], insomnia [63], victimisation in the workplace [66], and dysregulation of chronic cortisol secretion [11].…”

Social status and friendship in peer victimization trajectories

“…In addition, the study by Zych et al (2020) points out that the majority of the schoolchildren who are victims are trapped in the same role. A growing body of research has begun to explore through longitudinal designs the differences between chronic victims, who are exposed to sustained bullying over a long period of time, and those who are bullied for a limited time ( Ouellet-Morin et al, 2020 ; Sheppard, Giletta, & Prinstein, 2019). According to these studies, chronic victims have higher levels of chronic stress, as well as externalizing and internalizing personality problems, which are not found in schoolchildren who are unaware bullying is taking place or who have suffered from bullying in a shorter or less traumatic way ( Haltigan & Vaillancourt, 2014 ; Rosen, Beron, & Underwood, 2017; Sukhawathanakul & Leadbeater, 2020 ; Sumter, Baumgartner, Valkenburg, & Peter, 2012 ).…”

The roles of comorbidity and trauma exposure and its timing in shaping HPA axis patterns in depression

“…It is useful to add, however, that the CTQ focuses on abuse and neglect perpetrated by caregivers. There is accumulating evidence that many forms of adversity (Kuhlman, Geiss, Vargas, & Lopez-Duran, 2015), such as abuse perpetrated by peers (Knack, Jensen-Campbell, & Baum, 2011;Ouellet-Morin et al, 2020) and socioeconomic adversity (Li, Power, Kelly, Kirschbaum, & Hertzman, 2007) are related to alterations in the HPA axis, and warrant further investigation as contributors to the developmental neurobiology of the HPA axis and its role in psychopathology.…”