Effortful control and context interact in shaping neuroendocrine stress responses during childhood

Abstract

Trait and contextual factors can shape individual and group differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) response to stress; but the ways in which these factors may interact with each other to modulate stress activity has rarely been examined. Here, we investigated whether the association between a temperamental self-regulatory trait – Effortful Control (EC) – and HPA axis stress response is moderated by type of laboratory stress in sixty-five children (35 boys). EC was measured at age 3 and 6 using age-appropriate laboratory batteries as well as mother reports. HPA axis responses were measured at age 7 by randomly assigning children to one of two laboratory stress tasks (frustration vs. fear). Results indicated that EC interacted with stress context in predicting cortisol response. Specifically, lower EC was associated with greater cortisol response (steeper reactivity slopes) in the context of a frustration stressor but this was reversed in a fear context where lower EC was associated with flatter, more gradual activation. It is likely that different components of EC, such as emotion regulation and attention, differentially interact with the stress context. These types of effects and interactions need to be more thoroughly understood in order to meaningfully interpret cortisol reactivity data and better characterize the role of the HPA axis in human psychopathology.

The psychology of HPA axis activation: Examining subjective emotional distress and control in a phobic fear exposure model

“…In addition, current contextual factors (e.g., actual controllability, novelty, perceived support) can moderate HPA axis activity (Dickerson and Kemeny, 2004; Levine, 2000). It is likely that developmentally-shaped psychosocial “trait” factors interact with such contextual factors to influence neuroendocrine responses in humans (e.g., Cosley et al, 2010; Mayer et al, 2014) and animals (Stocker et al, 2016). This interactive model is consistent with the function of the HPA axis to appropriately respond to acute and repeated stress experiences, based on current stressor characteristics and past environmental experiences.…”

The concurrent and longitudinal associations of temperament and nutritional risk factors in early childhood

“…Finally, in adults it has been demonstrated that stress can lead to a shift in preference from healthy foods to foods with high‐added sugar and fats . Children with higher effortful control may have an improved ability to regulate their emotions and can better cope with stress over time, which could result in a lower preference for an unhealthy dietary intake .…”

Adolescent temperament dimensions as stable prospective risk and protective factors for salivary C‐reactive protein

“…Temperament has associations with both the autonomic nervous system (ANS; Spangler & Friedman, 2015) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (Mayer, Abelson, & Lopez-Duran, 2014)two fundamental stress response systems that, when dysregulated, may predispose individuals to increased risk of inflammation (Slavich & Irwin, 2014) and poor general health outcomes (McEwen, 2012). Two important dimensions of temperament that may influence risk for both depression (Hankin, 2015;Yap et al, 2011) and physiological processes related to disease (McEwen, 2012) are effortful control (EC) and negative emotionality (NE).…”