Interaction of Adrenocortical Activity and Autonomic Arousal on Children’s Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior Problems

Abstract

The psychobiology of stress involves two major components, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Research has revealed the association between behavior problems and the psychobiology of stress, yet findings are inconsistent and few studies have addressed the moderate correlations between behavior problems. This study examines the individual and interactive effects of HPA and ANS on child behavior problems while taking into account the comorbidity of externalizing and internalizing problems. Four saliva samples were collected from each participant in a community sample (N = 429; aged 11-12 years; 50.49 % male), which were assayed for cortisol (HPA) and alpha-amylase, sAA (ANS). Children's behavior problems were assessed using parent-report and self-report versions of the Child Behavior Checklist. Latent variables were constructed to represent trait-like individual differences in cortisol and sAA. Low levels of HPA axis activity were associated with higher levels of both externalizing and internalizing problems, but only among children with low ANS arousal. The association between externalizing and internalizing problems diminished to non-significant after taking into account the influence of HPA axis activity and ANS arousal, which suggests that the psychobiology of stress explains a fair proportion of comorbidity of behavior problems. The findings support that interaction between HPA axis and ANS functioning has potential to clarify prior mixed findings and advance our understanding of the child behavior problems.

The Interactive Effects of Stressful Family Life Events and Cortisol Reactivity on Adolescent Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors

“…The current study used cortisol reactivity of the HPA axis as its primary indicator of stress reactivity. To gain a better understanding of the effects of stressful events and environments on physiological indicators of stress, additive effects and interactions within and between multiple stress systems should be examined [24, 57, 58]. For example, use of stress response indicators in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), a branch of the SAM stress response system, should also be examined, as well as potential additive and interaction effects among the ANS and HPA axis stress response systems [4, 24, 53].…”

Higher cortisol is associated with poorer executive functioning in preschool children: The role of parenting stress, parent coping and quality of daycare

“…Higher stress, as measured with salivary cortisol, has also been demonstrated to impact adult decision-making (Starcke, Wolf, Markowitsch, & Brand, 2008), executive functions (Stawski et al, 2011), and dual-performance activities (Plessow, Schade, Kirschbaum, & Fischer, 2012). Stress and neuropsychology in children has received attention (e.g., Chen, Raine, Soyfer, & Granger, 2015; Hostinar, Johnson, & Gunnar, 2015); however, the literature remains limited.…”

Exposure to intimate partner violence in utero and infant internalizing behaviors: Moderation by salivary cortisol-alpha amylase asymmetry

“…However, the results of these studies have been inconsistent and difficult to interpret because the study designs, participants, behavioral measures, and saliva sampling strategies (e.g., diurnal rhythm, stress-reactivity, basal levels) are very different. Three studies suggest that “asymmetrical” activity between these two stress response systems is associated with better cognitive and behavioral outcomes, while “symmetrical” activation is generally associated with psychosocial problems 31, 32, 33 . However, these studies differ on the specific patterns that confer risk for internalizing and externalizing behaviors (e.g., low cortisol paired with low sAA reported by Chen et al 31 , and Gordis et al 33 ; high cortisol paired with high sAA reported by El-Sheikh et al 32 ).…”

“…Three studies suggest that “asymmetrical” activity between these two stress response systems is associated with better cognitive and behavioral outcomes, while “symmetrical” activation is generally associated with psychosocial problems 31, 32, 33 . However, these studies differ on the specific patterns that confer risk for internalizing and externalizing behaviors (e.g., low cortisol paired with low sAA reported by Chen et al 31 , and Gordis et al 33 ; high cortisol paired with high sAA reported by El-Sheikh et al 32 ). In contrast, one study 34 found that high-cortisol combined with low-sAA reactivity was associated with more attention, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and social problems among school-aged children and adolescents.…”