title: Childhood Adversity, Self-Esteem, and Diurnal Cortisol Profiles Across the Life Span.
abstract: Childhood adversity is associated with poor health outcomes in adulthood; the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been proposed as a crucial biological intermediary of these long-term effects. Here, we tested whether childhood adversity was associated with diurnal cortisol parameters and whether this link was partially explained by self-esteem. In both adults and youths, childhood adversity was associated with lower levels of cortisol at awakening, and this association was partially driven by low self-esteem. Further, we found a significant indirect pathway through which greater adversity during childhood was linked to a flatter cortisol slope via self-esteem. Finally, youths who had a caregiver with high self-esteem experienced a steeper decline in cortisol throughout the day compared with youths whose caregiver reported low self-esteem. We conclude that self-esteem is a plausible psychological mechanism through which childhood adversity may get embedded in the activity of the HPA axis across the life span.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wayne State University sam.zilioli@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Samuele
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zilioli
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wayne State University.
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Slatcher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Macau.
authors.forename: Peilian
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavior and Psychology, Department of Psychology, Henan University.
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavior and Psychology, Department of Psychology, Henan University.
authors.forename: Guoxiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers; D002648:Child; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology*; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000075384:Neuroticism / Q000502:physiology*; D012463:Saliva / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: childhood adversity; cortisol; physical health; self-esteem