title: Maternal intimate partner violence exposure, child cortisol reactivity and child asthma.
abstract: Psychosocial stressors like intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure are associated with increased risk of childhood asthma. Longitudinal studies have not investigated the role of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity (and associated alterations in cortisol release) in the child IPV exposure-asthma association. We sought to investigate this association, and to assess whether this relationship differs by child HPA reactivity. This secondary analysis used longitudinal cohort data from the Family Life Project. Participants included 1,292 low-income children and mothers; maternal interview and child biomarker data, including maternal report of IPV and child asthma, and child salivary cortisol obtained with validated stress reactivity paradigms, were collected when the child was 7, 15, 24, 35, and 48 months. Using structural equation modeling, maternal IPV when the child was 7 months of age predicted subsequent reports of childhood asthma (B=0.18, p=.002). This association differed according to the child's HPA reactivity status, with IPV exposed children who were HPA reactors at 7 and 15 months of age--defined as a ≥10% increase in cortisol level twenty minutes post peak arousal during the challenge tasks and a raw increase of at least .02μg/dl--being significantly at risk for asthma (7 months: B=0.17, p=.02; 15 months: B=0.17, p=.02). Our findings provide support that children who are physiologically reactive are the most vulnerable to adverse health outcomes when faced with environmental stressors.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, 88 East Newton Street, Vose 305, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
authors.forename: Megan H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bair-Merritt
authors.affiliation: Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Voegtline
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 200 North Wolfe Street, Division of General Pediatrics, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Sharon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Ghazarian
authors.affiliation: Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, Arizona State University, 550 East Orange Street, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins, 525 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 246 Greene Street, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Granger
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, 88 East Newton Street, Vose 305, Boston, MA 02118, USA; Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 200 North Wolfe Street, Division of General Pediatrics, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research, Arizona State University, 550 East Orange Street, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA; School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins, 525 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, 246 Greene Street, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Clancy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blair
authors.affiliation: Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 200 North Wolfe Street, Division of General Pediatrics, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.
authors.forename: Sara B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D011203:Poverty; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Asthma; Cortisol; Intimate partner violence; Longitudinal