Stress Neurobiology and Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Early‐life stress (ELS), such as childhood abuse and neglect is a well‐established risk factor for the development of psychiatric and medical conditions. In the present chapter, we will focus on the biological embedding of maltreatment during development, which is thought to underlie the increased long‐term risk for several disorders. Specifically, we will discuss the effects of ELS on the functioning of the main stress regulatory systems resulting in a persistent dysregulation of stress processing. Further, we will discuss findings that focus on structural and functional changes of brain regions that are involved in the regulation of stress and emotion. Given that some individuals remain resilient despite of significant exposure to ELS, whereas others develop disorders, we next focus on factors that mediate the emergence of interindividual differences in the effects of ELS including the role of sensitive periods, sex, and the individual genotype. Finally, we will discuss more recent insights into the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation by stress that may account for the development of altered stress responsiveness and risk for psychiatric and medical disorders after ELS, including epigenetic programming with long‐term impact on gene expression. We will conclude this chapter by discussing the implications of insights from neurobiological research on the long‐term consequences of ELS for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to prevent or reverse the detrimental long‐term consequences and thereby reduce the manifestation of negative health outcomes in these victims.

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury and Suicidal Behaviors in Girls: The Case for Targeted Prevention in Preadolescence

“…A voluminous literature documents severe and often lifelong effects of maltreatment on the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (L-HPA) axis (Carpenter, Shattuck, Tyrka, Geracioti, & Price, 2011)—the major human stress response system (Jacoby, Overfeld, Binder, & Heim, 2017; Lupien, McEwen, Gunnar, & Heim, 2009). In turn, maltreatment-induced alterations in L-HPA axis function—assessed via cortisol responding—are associated concurrently and prospectively with internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders, and problems with social competence among children and adolescents (Alink, Cicchetti, Kim, & Rogosch, 2012; Hart, Gunnar, & Cicchetti, 1995).…”

Negative emotionality as a candidate mediating mechanism linking prenatal maternal mood problems and offspring internalizing behaviour

“…The HPA axis is one of the most studied biological systems implicated in the development of anxiety and depression. As one of the main outflow systems of the stress response system, the HPA axis acts to mediate and regulate stress and emotion (Jacoby et al, 2016). Since irregular activation of the HPA axis is implicated in the development of anxiety and depression (Kallen et al, 2008;Parker et al, 2003) and in children with NE (e.g., Baibazarova et al, 2013), prenatal programming of this system could be one mechanism which links pregnancy-specific anxiety and the development of internalizing problems in children via infant NE.…”

Salud mental primaria para niños, niñas y adolescentes institucionalizados: perspectiva de equipos de salud

“…Aquí cobran relevancia las implicancias éticas que tiene la atención de NNA bajo el sistema de protección, considerando que han vivido experiencias adversas a temprana edad y presentan una alta prevalencia de problemas de salud mental. Existe evidencia que respalda los efectos del estrés tóxico a temprana edad y su impacto en el neurodesarrollo, generando cambios a nivel de las estructuras cerebrales que regulan la respuesta al estrés y sus mecanismos de respuesta neuroendocrinos (Hambrick et al, 2019;Jacoby et al, 2016). Publicaciones sobre las consecuencias de la crianza en sistemas institucionales también dan cuenta de las consecuencias del -ya mencionado-estrés tóxico a corto y largo plazo, además de un importante deterioro psicológico y conductual (Forkey & Szilagyi, 2014;Nelson III et al, 2019).…”