1
|
Carosella KA, Wiglesworth A, Bendezú JJ, Brower R, Mirza S, Mueller BA, Cullen KR, Klimes-Dougan B. Patterns of experience, expression, and physiology of stress relate to depressive symptoms and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in adolescents: a person-centered approach. Psychol Med 2023; 53:7902-7912. [PMID: 37609891 PMCID: PMC10755230 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723002003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Preliminary evidence shows that discordance in stress experience, expression, and physiology (EEP) in adolescents is linked to depression, suicidal ideation (SI), non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and brain functioning. This study employs person-centered analysis to probe the relationship between stress responses, psychopathology, and neural patterns in female adolescents who are oversampled for engagement in NSSI. METHODS Adolescent females (N = 109, ages 12-17) underwent a social stress test from which self-report measures of stress experience, observer ratings of stress expression, and physiological metrics of stress (via salivary cortisol) were obtained. Multi-trajectory modeling was employed to identify concordant and discordant stress EEP groups. Depressive symptoms, SI and attempt, NSSI engagement, frontal and limbic activation to emotional stimuli, and resting state fronto-limbic connectivity were examined in the EEP groups derived from the multi-trajectory models. RESULTS Four groups were identified, three of which demonstrated relatively concordant EEP and one which demonstrated discordant EEP (High Experience-High Expression-Low Physiology). Further, replicating past research, the High Experience-High Expression-Low Physiology discordant group exhibited higher depressive symptoms, SI, suicide attempt, and NSSI episodes (only for sensitivity analyses based on past year) relative to other EEP groups. No significant group differences in brain functioning emerged. CONCLUSION Results indicate that within-person, multi-level patterns in stress responding capture risk for dysfunction including depression and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Further interrogating of system-level stress functioning may better inform assessment and intervention efforts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrea Wiglesworth
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Jason José Bendezú
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Rylee Brower
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Salahudeen Mirza
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Bryon A. Mueller
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Kathryn R. Cullen
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Bonnie Klimes-Dougan
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Lin B, Kidwell MC, Kerig PK, Crowell SE, Fortuna AJ. Profiles of autonomic stress responsivity in a sample of justice-involved youth: Associations with childhood trauma exposure and emotional and behavioral functioning. Dev Psychobiol 2020; 63:206-225. [PMID: 32181498 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Revised: 01/05/2020] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
A limited number of studies have begun to investigate how the coordinated actions of distinct physiological systems may be related to the development of psychopathology. However, the form taken by these patterns of coordination as well as their antecedents and developmental implications remain to be clarified. The Adaptive Calibration Model (ACM) proposes four prototypical patterns of physiological stress responsivity and corresponding behavioral patterns, which are further tied to varying levels of childhood adversity. The current study is among the first to investigate whether patterns of sympathetic and parasympathetic stress responsivity predicted by the ACM generalize to a sample of justice-involved youth with disproportionately high rates of childhood trauma exposure. Psychophysiological and self-report data were collected from 822 justice-involved youth (182 girls) ages 12-19 years. Latent profile analyses yielded five profiles of physiological responsivity that largely corresponded to the patterns proposed by the ACM. Further, these profiles demonstrated predicted associations with self-reported emotionality and adjustment. Trauma exposure was associated with a lower likelihood of membership in one of the profiles showing blunted physiological responsivity. Our discussion highlights ways in which insights from the ACM may inform understanding about linkages between physiology and adjustment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Betty Lin
- University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Cullen AE, Rai S, Vaghani MS, Mondelli V, McGuire P. Cortisol Responses to Naturally Occurring Psychosocial Stressors Across the Psychosis Spectrum: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:513. [PMID: 32595532 PMCID: PMC7300294 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individuals with established psychosis and those at high-risk for the disorder have been found to show abnormalities within the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, including elevations in basal and diurnal cortisol, but a blunted cortisol awakening response. However, the extent to which these features are associated with psychosocial stressors encountered in the natural environment (which are known to be more commonly experienced by these groups, and more distressing) is currently unclear. We therefore conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the concordance between naturally-occurring psychosocial stressors and cortisol levels in these populations. METHODS PubMed, PsycINFO, and EMBASE were searched up to November 2019 to identify studies examining the concordance between psychosocial stressors and cortisol in healthy controls and individuals on the psychosis spectrum (patients with established psychosis and/or high-risk individuals). An overall meta-analysis (including data for all stressor-cortisol pairings) was performed to determine the degree of concordance irrespective of group status, with meta-regression employed to test whether the degree of concordance differed in established psychosis and high-risk groups compared to controls. Planned stratified analyses were then performed to examine group differences (where established psychosis and high-risk groups were combined) within individual stressor-cortisol pairings. RESULTS Eighteen studies (16 datasets) were eligible for inclusion. The overall model, comprising 134 effect sizes, showed that stressors and cortisol measures were only weakly correlated [r=0.05 (95% CI: -0.00 to 0.10), p=0.059] and that neither established psychosis status (r=0.01, p=0.838) nor high-risk status (r=0.02, p=0.477) had a significant effect of the strength of correlation. In stratified analyses, significant differences between healthy controls and psychosis spectrum groups were observed for only one of the six stressor-cortisol pairings examined, where life event exposure and diurnal cortisol were positively correlated in controls [r=0.25 (95% CI: 0.01 to 0.46)], but negatively correlated in the psychosis spectrum group [r=-0.28 (95% CI: -0.49 to -0.04)]. CONCLUSIONS Overall, we observed poor concordance between naturally-occurring psychosocial stressors and cortisol irrespective of stressor type, cortisol measure, or group status. We consider a range of methodological factors that may have obscured the ability to detect "true" associations and provide recommendations for future studies in this field.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexis E Cullen
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sushma Rai
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Meghna S Vaghani
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Valeria Mondelli
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.,NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| | - Philip McGuire
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.,NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Abstract
Eating disorders are evolutionarily novel conditions. They lead to some of the highest mortality rates of all psychiatric disorders. Several evolutionary hypotheses have been proposed for eating disorders, but only the intrasexual competition hypothesis is extensively supported by evidence. We present the mismatch hypothesis as a necessary extension to the current theoretical framework of eating disorders. This hypothesis explains the evolutionarily novel adaptive metaproblem that has arisen when mating motives conflict with the large-scale and easy availability of hyper-rewarding but obesogenic foods. This situation is exacerbated particularly in those contemporary environments that are characterized by sedentary lifestyles, ever-present junk foods, caloric surplus and the ubiquity of social comparisons that take place via social media. Our psychoneuroimmunological model connects ultimate-level causation with proximate mechanisms by showing how the adaptive metaproblem between mating motives and food rewards leads to chronic stress and, further, to disordered eating. Chronic stress causes neuroinflammation, which increases susceptibility to OCD-like behaviors that typically co-occur with eating disorders. Chronic stress upregulates the serotonergic system and causes dysphoric mood in anorexia nervosa patients. Dieting, however, reduces serotonin levels and dysphoric mood, leading to a vicious serotonergic-homeostatic stress/starvation cycle whereby cortisol and neuroinflammation increase through stringent dieting. Our psychoneuroimmunological model indicates that between-individual and within-individual variation in eating disorders partially arises from (co)variation in gut microbiota and stress responsivity, which influence neuroinflammation and the serotonergic system. We review the advances that have been made in recent years in understanding how to best treat eating disorders, outlining directions for future clinical research. Current evidence indicates that eating disorder treatments should aim to reduce the chronic stress, neuroinflammation, stress responsivity and gut dysbiosis that fuel the disorders. Connecting ultimate causes with proximate mechanisms and treating biopsychosocial causes rather than manifest symptoms is expected to bring more effective and sophisticated long-term interventions for the millions of people who suffer from eating disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Severi Luoto
- English, Drama and Writing Studies, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.,School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Tatjana Krama
- Department of Biotechnology, Daugavpils University, Daugavpils, Latvia
| | - Indrikis Krams
- Department of Biotechnology, Daugavpils University, Daugavpils, Latvia.,Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Zeytinoglu S, Calkins SD, Leerkes EM. Autonomic nervous system functioning in early childhood: Responses to cognitive and negatively valenced emotional challenges. Dev Psychobiol 2019; 62:657-673. [PMID: 31578722 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Revised: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Although autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning is "context-dependent," few studies examined children's normative sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic responses to distinct challenges in early childhood years. Examining children's ANS responsivity to distinct challenges is important for understanding normative autonomic responses toward everyday life stressors and identifying paradigms that effectively elicit a "stress response." We examined children's (N = 278) sympathetic (preejection period [PEP]) and parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) responses to cognitive (i.e., problem-solving and cognitive control) and negatively valenced emotional (i.e., blocked goal and unfairness) challenges in preschool, kindergarten, and grade 1. Children, on average, demonstrated parasympathetic inhibition (RSA withdrawal) in response to all challenges but the magnitude of these responses depended on the task. Children showed sympathetic activation (PEP shortening) toward the problem-solving task at each assessment and there was no sample-level change in the magnitude of this response over time. Children showed greater sympathetic responsivity toward the cognitive control task over time, with evidence for a sympathetic activation response only in grade 1. Children experienced sympathetic inhibition (PEP lengthening) toward the unfairness tasks but did not experience significant sympathetic responsivity toward the blocked goal tasks. Parasympathetic responsivity to most challenges were modestly stable but there was no stability in sympathetic responsivity across time.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Selin Zeytinoglu
- Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Susan D Calkins
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA
| | - Esther M Leerkes
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Chaffin ATB, Fang Y, Larson KR, Mul JD, Ryan KK. Sex-dependent effects of MC4R genotype on HPA axis tone: implications for stress-associated cardiometabolic disease. Stress 2019; 22:571-580. [PMID: 31184537 PMCID: PMC6690797 DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2019.1610742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2019] [Accepted: 04/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) facilitates hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis responses to acute stress in male rodents and is a well known to regulator of energy balance. Mutations in the MC4R is the most common monogenic cause of obesity in humans and has been associated with sex-specific effects, but whether stress regulation by the MC4R is sex-dependent, and whether the MC4R facilitates HPA responses to chronic stress, is unknown. We hypothesized that MC4R-signaling contributes to HPA axis dysregulation and metabolic pathophysiology following chronic stress exposure. We measured changes in energy balance, HPA axis tone, and vascular remodeling during chronic variable stress (CVS) in male and female rats with MC4R loss-of-function. Rats were placed into three groups (n = 9-18/genotype/sex) and half of each group was subjected to CVS for 30 days or were non-stressed littermate controls. All rats underwent an acute restraint stress challenge on Day 30. Rats were euthanized on Day 31, adrenals collected for weight, and descending aortas fixed for morphological indices of vascular pathophysiology. We observed a marked interaction between Mc4r genotype and sex for basal HPA axis tone and acute stress responsivity. MC4R loss-of-function blunted both endpoints in males but exaggerated them in females. Contrary to our hypothesis, Mc4r genotype had no effect on either HPA axis responses or metabolic responses to chronic stress. Heightened stress reactivity of females with MC4R mutations suggests a possible mechanism for the sex-dependent effects associated with this mutation in humans and highlights how stress may differentially regulate metabolism in males and females. Lay summary The hypothalamic melanocortin system is an important regulator of energy balance and stress responses. Here, we report a sex-difference in the stress reactivity of rats with a mutation in this system. Our findings highlight how stress may regulate metabolism differently in males and females and may provide insight into sex-differences associated with this mutation in humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aki T-B Chaffin
- a Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California , Davis , CA , USA
| | - Yanbin Fang
- a Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California , Davis , CA , USA
| | - Karlton R Larson
- a Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California , Davis , CA , USA
| | - Joram D Mul
- b Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam , The Netherlands
- c Metabolism and Reward Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience , Amsterdam , The Netherlands
| | - Karen K Ryan
- a Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California , Davis , CA , USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Hinnant JB, Philbrook LE, Erath SA, El-Sheikh M. Approaches to modeling the development of physiological stress responsivity. Psychophysiology 2017; 55:e13027. [PMID: 29086432 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2017] [Revised: 09/24/2017] [Accepted: 10/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Influential biopsychosocial theories have proposed that some developmental periods in the lifespan are potential pivot points or opportunities for recalibration of stress response systems. To date, however, there have been few longitudinal studies of physiological stress responsivity and no studies comparing change in physiological stress responsivity across developmental periods. Our goals were to (a) address conceptual and methodological issues in studying the development of physiological stress responsivity within and between individuals, and (b) provide an exemplar for evaluating development of responsivity to stress in the parasympathetic nervous system, comparing respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) responsivity from middle to late childhood with middle to late adolescence. We propose the use of latent growth modeling of stress responsivity that includes time-varying covariates to account for conceptual and methodological issues in the measurement of physiological stress responsivity. Such models allow researchers to address key aspects of developmental sensitivity including within-individual variability, mean level change over time, and between-individual variability over time. In an empirical example, we found significant between-individual variability over time in RSA responsivity to stress during middle to late childhood but not during middle to late adolescence, suggesting that childhood may be a period of greater developmental sensitivity at the between-individual level.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J Benjamin Hinnant
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
| | - Lauren E Philbrook
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
| | - Stephen A Erath
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
| | - Mona El-Sheikh
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Ghrelin, a peptide hormone secreted mainly by the stomach, increases appetite and food intake. Surprisingly, ghrelin levels are lower in obese individuals with binge eating disorder (BED) than in obese non-BED individuals. Acute psychological stress has been shown to raise ghrelin levels in animals and humans. Our aim was to assess ghrelin levels after a cold pressor test (CPT) in women with BED. We also examined the relationship between the cortisol stress response and changes in ghrelin levels. METHODS Twenty-one obese (mean [standard deviation] body mass index = 34.9 [5.8] kg/m(2)) women (10 non-BED, 11 BED) underwent the CPT, hand submerged in ice water for 2 minutes. Blood samples were drawn for 70 minutes and assayed for ghrelin and cortisol. RESULTS There were no differences between the groups in ghrelin levels at baseline (-10 minutes). Ghrelin rose significantly after the CPT (F = 2.4, p = .024) peaking at 19 minutes before declining (F = 17.9, p < .001), but there were no differences between the BED and non-BED groups. Area under the curve for ghrelin was not related to ratings of pain, stress, hunger, or desire to eat after CPT. In addition, there were no observed relationships between the area under the curves for ghrelin or cortisol after stress. CONCLUSIONS Although there were no differences between BED groups, there was a significant rise in ghrelin in obese humans after a stressor, consistent with other recent reports suggesting a stress-related role for ghrelin.
Collapse
|
9
|
Mathews HL, Janusek LW. Epigenetics and psychoneuroimmunology: mechanisms and models. Brain Behav Immun 2011; 25:25-39. [PMID: 20832468 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2010.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2010] [Revised: 08/21/2010] [Accepted: 08/30/2010] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In this Introduction to the Named Series "Epigenetics, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity" an overview of epigenetics is provided with a consideration of the nature of epigenetic regulation including DNA methylation, histone modification and chromatin re-modeling. Illustrative examples of recent scientific developments are highlighted to demonstrate the influence of epigenetics in areas of research relevant to those who investigate phenomena within the scientific discipline of psychoneuroimmunology. These examples are presented in order to provide a perspective on how epigenetic analysis will add insight into the molecular processes that connect the brain with behavior, neuroendocrine responsivity and immune outcome.
Collapse
|