Evening Activities as a Potential Confound in Research on the Adrenocortical System in Children

Kertes, Darlene A.; Gunnar, Megan R.

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00663.x

Cited by 42 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Specifically, MTFC-P treatment staff members encouraged parents to set regular bedtimes, to develop bedtime routines to help settle children in the evenings, and to limit novel or highly stimulating activities between dinner and bedtime. This result is consistent with some of the recent work by Kertes and Gunnar (2004) showing small but notable elevations in evening cortisol among children who participated in structured evening activities. Future research is needed to determine if this intervention, by limiting evening activities, exerts a causal effect on PM cortisol level variability.…”

Section: Mtfc-p and Rfc Groupssupporting

confidence: 92%

Effects of a therapeutic intervention for foster preschoolers on diurnal cortisol activity

Fisher

Stoolmiller

Gunnar

et al. 2007

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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293

257

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Atypical diurnal patterns of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity have been observed samples of individuals following early life adversity. A characteristic pattern arising from disrupted caregiving is a low early morning cortisol level that changes little from morning to evening. Less well understood is the plasticity of the HPA axis in response to subsequent supportive caregiving environments. Monthly early morning and evening cortisol levels were assessed over 12 months in a sample of 3-to 6-year-old foster children enrolled in a randomized trial of a family-based therapeutic intervention (N = 117; intervention condition n = 57; regular foster care condition n = 60), and a community comparison group of same-aged, nonmaltreated children from low-income families (n = 60). Latent growth analyses revealed stable and typical diurnal (morning-to-evening) cortisol activity among community comparison children. Foster children in the intervention condition exhibited cortisol activity that became comparable to the comparison group children over the course of the study. In contrast, children in regular foster care condition exhibited increasingly flattened morning-to-evening cortisol activity over the course of the study. In sum, improvements in caregiving following early adversity appear to have the potential to reverse or prevent disruptions in HPA axis functioning.

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Section: Mtfc-p and Rfc Groupssupporting

confidence: 92%

Effects of a therapeutic intervention for foster preschoolers on diurnal cortisol activity

Fisher

Stoolmiller

Gunnar

et al. 2007

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Self Cite

293

257

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Previous reports, however, have described a.m. and p.m. levels for such children, including at least two studies using the same sampling and assay procedures used in the present investigation. In a study of p.m. cortisol levels in a low-risk sample of children ages 7-11 years, the mean p.m. cortisol levels reported were within the standard error of the mean of those found in the present study (Kertes & Gunnar, 2004). Likewise, when a.m. and p.m. cortisol levels were obtained from slightly older children (10-12 years) in a large study (N = 1,768; Rosmalen et al, 2005), again means were within the standard error of the mean reported in the present study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Saliva was sampled on three school days (to assure stable day to day wake/sleep schedules). We requested that samples be taken 30 min after wakeup and 30 min before bedtime or between 8 and 9 p.m. if bedtime was after 9:30 p.m. Sampling was avoided, whenever possible, on days when children had scheduled evening activities, especially sport activities as these activities may elevate bedtime cortisol levels in children (Kertes & Gunnar, 2004). Caffeine consumption was precluded 2 hr prior to sampling and days representing a significant departure from the typical routine were avoided.…”

Section: Procedures For Salivary Cortisol Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early deprivation and home basal cortisol levels: A study of internationally adopted children

et al. 2008

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Animal studies reveal that early deprivation impairs regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenocortical (HPA) axis, potentially increasing vulnerability to stressors throughout life. To examine early deprivation effects on basal HPA axis activity in humans, basal cortisol levels were examined in 164 internationally adopted children who had experienced varying degrees of preadoption deprivation. Duration of institutional care, age at adoption, and parent ratings of preadoption neglect indexed a latent factor of Deprived Care. Adoption measures of height and weight standardized to World Health Organisation norms indexed a latent factor of Growth Delay that was viewed as another reflection of deprivation. Cortisol samples were collected 3.3-11.6 years postadoption (Md = 7.3 years) at home on 3 days approximately 30 min after wakeup and before bedtime. Both early a.m. levels and the decrease in cortisol across the day were examined. A structural equation model revealed that preadoption Deprived Care predicted Growth Delay at adoption and Growth Delay predicted higher morning cortisol levels and a larger diurnal cortisol decrease.Children who are neglected and abused early in life are at heightened risk for physical and mental disorders (Cicchetti & Toth, 1995). There is currently considerable interest in understanding how adverse early care influences brain development and contributes to individual differences in vulnerability (e.g., Cicchetti & Tucker, 1994). Animal studies of the impact of early adverse experiences on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system provide a compelling explanatory model (e.g., see Graham, Heim, Goodman, Miller, & Nemeroff, 1999;Heim, Owen, Plotsky, & Nemeroff, 1997). However, their applicability to human development remains uncertain. Glucocorticoids (cortisol in primates, corticosterone in rodents) are hormones produced by the HPA axis that are essential both for maintaining homeostasis and adapting to physical and psychological stressors (de Kloet, Rots, & Cools, 1996;Sapolsky, Romero, & Munck, 2000). Although increases in glucocorticoids above basal levels are typically examined in research on stress, basal levels also contribute importantly to stress vulnerability and resilience (Sapolsky et al., 2000). According to the allostatic load model (McEwen, 1998), the HPA system supports adaptation to stress through increasing or decreasing its basal set points and responsiveness. These changes, although permitting individuals to continue to function, carry a risk or allostatic load that increases vulnerability to physical and mental disorders. Indeed, both Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Megan R. Gunnar, Institute of Child Development, 51 East River Road, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455; gunnar@umn.edu. HHS Public AccessAuthor manuscript Dev Psychopathol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2018 March 22. Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript chronically elevated and chronically suppressed basal gluco...

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“…Finally, we did not control for the evening activities of participants who could have biased the results. Kertes and Gunnar [2004] have shown, that among children aged 7-10, participation in sports activities had an effect on salivary cortisol concentrations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Variation in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity among bullied and non‐bullied children

Vaillancourt

Duku

deCatanzaro

et al. 2007

Aggressive Behavior

133

100

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We examined the relationship between being bullied during childhood and activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis as assessed through repeated measures of salivary cortisol. A non-clinical sample of 154 (74 boys) predominantly Caucasian middle-class 12-year-olds each provided detailed information about their experiences with bullying and six saliva samples were standardized across time and day. Children with a history of child maltreatment, diagnosed psychiatric illness, foster care placement, medication use (psychotropic and oral contraception) and aggression directed toward peers and/or family members were excluded. Using multilevel regression and applying orthogonal polynomial contrasts to model the observed circadian pattern in the data, we found that occasional and frequent verbal peer victimization was associated with hyposecretion of cortisol when controlling for sex, pubertal status, age, depression and anxiety. This relation, however, was moderated by sex. For boys, occasional exposure was associated with higher cortisol levels, whereas for girls exposure was associated with lower cortisol levels. The present study highlights the need to consider the plight of peer-victimized children seriously, as it is associated with alterations to the HPA axis that affect males and females differently, and likely diminishes a person's ability to cope with stress, possibly placing them at risk for psychopathology and ill health.

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Evening Activities as a Potential Confound in Research on the Adrenocortical System in Children

Cited by 42 publications

References 69 publications

Effects of a therapeutic intervention for foster preschoolers on diurnal cortisol activity

Effects of a therapeutic intervention for foster preschoolers on diurnal cortisol activity

Early deprivation and home basal cortisol levels: A study of internationally adopted children

Variation in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity among bullied and non‐bullied children

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