Demographic and psychosocial factors associated with hair cortisol concentrations in preschool children

Abstract

Background: Early life stress has enduring effects on physical and mental health. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) reflect exposures to contextual stressors in early life, but are understudied in preschool children. Methods:Hair samples from children (N=693) during clinic visits (CV) scheduled at 1-4 years (CV1-CV4) were measured using validated assay methods for HCC.Results: HCC were highest at CV1 and decreased at CV2-CV4, with no sex differences. Black children had higher HCC than White/other children; these differences persisted even after adjusting for socioeconomic factors. Bivariable analyses showed significant effects on HCC for Users may view, print, copy, and download text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use:

The social ecology of childhood and early life adversity

“…Previous studies reported higher HCC in boys than in girls( 201 , 207 ). However, current data show no sex differences among preschool children( 28 , 193 ), higher HCC in pre-pubertal boys than girls, and no differences after puberty( 208 ). Variations of HCC with age are unclear, with most studies showing age-related decreases in preschool years( 28 , 209 , 210 ).…”

“…However, current data show no sex differences among preschool children( 28 , 193 ), higher HCC in pre-pubertal boys than girls, and no differences after puberty( 208 ). Variations of HCC with age are unclear, with most studies showing age-related decreases in preschool years( 28 , 209 , 210 ). Racialized experiences and structural racial discrimination may contribute to the higher HCC in African-American children compared to children from other races( 28 , 211 ).…”

“…Despite widespread acceptance of these theoretical constructs, most studies focus solely on adversities within the home, testing their associations with physical( 21 – 24 ) and mental health outcomes( 25 ). Many authors use the term early life stress (ELS) to link adverse experiences in a child’s life with negative health outcomes( 1 , 2 , 26 – 28 ); other scholars refer to this phenomenon as “toxic stress”( 29 , 30 ), with no consensus on the nomenclature used to describe relationships between childhood adversity and potential health outcomes. While the ‘stress’ caused by adversity may explain many long-term consequences, ‘stress’ is not the operative factor for all observed outcomes( 1 , 26 ).…”

“…Variations of HCC with age are unclear, with most studies showing age-related decreases in preschool years( 28 , 209 , 210 ). Racialized experiences and structural racial discrimination may contribute to the higher HCC in African-American children compared to children from other races( 28 , 211 ).…”

HPA-axis activity and the moderating effect of self-esteem in the context of intimate partner violence in Cameroon

“…Results obtained so far on the effect of IPV on HPA-axis activity lead us to think that knowledge about the stress response of mother–child dyads exposed to IPV could be enhanced by considering other HPA-axis activity measures, like AUCg, that have been described as highly congruent across challenge, time, and sample (Khoury et al, 2015 ). Another important factor to take into consideration is the effect of protective factors, since HPA activity has been shown to be influenced by individual protective factors, such as self-esteem or sense of coherence (Anand et al, 2019 ; Gustafsson, Nelson, & Gustafsson, 2010 ; Sabik et al, 2019 ; Sun et al, 2014 ). Moreover, conducting this research in sub-Saharan Africa, a rarely studied region, may enable us to obtain a homogeneous sample of traumatized women and children, given the high prevalence rate of IPV in particular in Cameroon.…”