Associations of waking cortisol with DHEA and testosterone across the pubertal transition: Effects of threat-related early life stress

Abstract

Atypical regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a putative mechanism underlying the association between exposure to early life stress (ELS) and the subsequent development of mental and physical health difficulties. Recent research indicates that puberty is a period of HPA-axis plasticity during which the effects of exposure to ELS on cortisol regulation may change. In particular, increases in the sex hormones that drive pubertal maturation, including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and testosterone, may be implicated in pubertal recalibration of cortisol regulation. In the current study, we examined the associations among levels of objectively-rated threat-related ELS and salivary waking cortisol, DHEA, and testosterone in a sample of 178 adolescents (55% female) who were in early puberty at baseline (Tanner stages 1-3; mean Tanner stage[SD]=1.93[0.64]; mean age[SD]=11.42[1.04]) and were followed up approximately two years later (mean Tanner stage[SD]=3.46[0.86]; mean age[SD]=13.38[1.06]). Using multi-level modeling, we disaggregated the effects of betweenindividual levels and within-individual increases in pubertal stage and sex hormones on change in cortisol. Controlling for between-individual differences in average pubertal stage, the association between levels of cortisol and DHEA was more strongly positive among adolescents who evidenced greater within-individual increases in pubertal stage across time. Both higher average levels and greater within-individual increases in DHEA and testosterone were associated with increases in cortisol across time, indicating positive coupling of developmental changes in these hormones; however, coupling was attenuated in adolescents who were exposed to more severe threat-related ELS prior to puberty. These findings advance our understanding of the development of the HPA-axis and its association with childhood environmental risk during puberty.

Greater age-related changes in white matter morphometry following early life stress: Associations with internalizing problems in adolescence

“…While we think that it is important to consider the impact of different types of ELS (e.g., neglect and threat) on neurophenotypes, including WM, from a dimensional perspective ( McLaughlin et al, 2020 ), very few participants in our sample endorsed experiences of neglect. In contrast, threat-related ELS exposure was more common in our sample, and co-exposure to different types of ELS exposure was high ( King et al, 2020 ). Although we did not have sufficient levels of neglect endorsement in our study to separate the effects of neglect from those of threat, we showed in our supplemental follow-up analyses that in four of the six tracts in which there was an interaction of age and ELS cumulative severity, there were also interactions of age and ELS threat severity.…”

“…In addition, in a follow-up set of analyses we tested whether ELS experiences related to threat in particular might explain our findings. We calculated ELS threat severity using the same procedure described above for cumulative ELS severity (Section 2.2.1 ), but only included events associated with threat (e.g., domestic violence, bullying, physical and/or sexual abuse as in King et al, 2020 ). We did not assess the specific effects of neglect-related ELS because the endorsement of this form of adversity was low in the current sample (only present in 8 of 156 participants).…”

Longitudinal effects of family psychopathology and stress on pubertal maturation and hormone coupling in adolescent twins

“…Our study adds to a small literature studying waking hormone levels and coupling, prior to stressful events of the day (Black et al., 2018; King, Colich, et al, 2019; Ruttle et al., 2015). Studies that have relied on waking hormone levels also typically reveal strong developmental effects on HPA‐HPG axes coupling, as we did here.…”

“…Each of these endocrine axes, as well as their coupling, respond to an individual's environment, particularly to change, stress, or challenges (Bobadilla, Asberg, Johnson, & Shirtcliff, 2015; Dismukes, Johnson, Vitacco, Iturri, & Shirtcliff, 2015; Ruttle, Shirtcliff, Armstrong, Klein, & Essex, 2015). The directionality (positive vs. negative correlation) and magnitude (unit change in association) of HPA‐HPG axes coupling (measured by their hormonal outputs) varies based on a youth's family antecedents (Dismukes et al., 2015; King, Graber, Colich, & Gotlib, 2019; Ruttle et al., 2015), suggesting that investigating “coupling” can help elucidate how early family environments shape children's development and health trajectories at a mechanistic level.…”

“…(2015) in a comparable sample of adolescents. We also expected youth with later pubertal stage to show less coupling and that females would show tighter hormone coupling than males (King, Colich, & Gotlib, 2019). In these analyses, we controlled for youth age and family SES (parent education and family income); these control variables were removed if the effect on hormone coupling was non‐significant.…”