Perceived early-life maternal care and the cortisol response to repeated psychosocial stress.
BACKGROUND
In the past decade, a body of animal and human research has revealed a profound influence of early-life experiences, ranging from variations in parenting behaviour to severe adversity, on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis regulation in adulthood. In our own previous studies, we have shown how variations in early-life parental care influence the development of the hippocampus and modify the cortisol awakening response.


METHODS
In the present study, we investigated the influence of early-life maternal care on cortisol, heart rate and subjective psychological responses to the repeated administration of a psychosocial laboratory stressor in a population of 63 healthy young adults. Low, medium and high early-life maternal care groups were identified using the Parental Bonding Instrument.


RESULTS
Controlling for the effect of sex, we found an inverted u-shaped relation between increasing levels of maternal care and cortisol stress responsivity. Specifically, overall and stress-induced cortisol levels went from below normal in the low maternal care, to normal in the medium care, back to below normal in the high maternal care groups. We found no group differences with respect to heart rate and subjective psychological stress measures. Whereas low and high maternal care groups exhibited similarly low endocrine stress responses, their psychological profiles were opposed with increased levels of depression and anxiety and decreased self-esteem in the low care group.


CONCLUSIONS
Sex was unequally distributed among maternal care groups, whereby the number of men with low maternal care was too small to allow introducing sex as a second between-group variable.


CONCLUSIONS
We discuss the potential significance of this dissociation between endocrine and psychological parameters with respect to stress vulnerability and resistance for each maternal care group.
Department of Psychiatry, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montréal, QC.
Veronika
V
Engert
Simona I
SI
Efanov
Katarina
K
Dedovic
Annie
A
Duchesne
Alain
A
Dagher
Jens C
JC
Pruessner
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009035:Mothers; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009769:Object Attachment; D012931:Social Environment; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
D006854:Hydrocortisone