1-131 - Blunted Versus Elevated Hair Cortisol: Differential Relations to Developmental and Intergenerational Predictors and Outcomes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) has been attributed to a variety of psychosocial exposures and linked to poor physical and mental health across the lifespan. Both hyper- and hypoactivity of the HPAA may be the product of adverse exposures and lead to maladaptive outcomes. Research is needed to explicate the factors that contribute to hypo- versus hyperreactivity of the HPAA and determine how elevated versus blunted cortisol exposure influences development. New methods for assessing HPAA activity from cortisol extracted from hair affords an opportunity to address these questions. Hair cortisol provides relatively long-term measures of cortisol output relative to more traditional methods using saliva or serum and thus may provide novel information about predictors and consequences of HPAA disruption. This symposium will present data from studies examining associations between adversity and hair cortisol and moderating factors that influence the magnitude and direction of effects. The first presentation will show that maternal socioeconomic status may affect fetal cortisol exposure, with exposure levels influencing telomere length in opposite directions in male versus female newborns. The second presentation will show non-linear associations between hair cortisol and adversity exposures in adolescents, with the direction of associations varying by severity of exposures and environmental and individual characteristics. The third presentation summarizes findings of a meta-analysis examining associations between adversity and hair cortisol, including moderating factors that influence the magnitude and direction of effects. Together, the presentations point to complexities in the effects of adversity on the HPAA and implications of such effects for development.

Sub Unit

• Biological Processes: Psychophysiology

Chair

• Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Discussant

• Megan Gunnar, University of Minnesota

Individual Presentations

• Maternal Socioeconomic Status, Cortisol Output in Pregnancy, and Newborn Telomere Length: Differential Effects by Infant Sex - Presenting Author: Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Non-Presenting Author: Georgios Sideridis, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Non-Presenting Author: Valentina Bollati, Università degli Studi di Milano; Non-Presenting Author: Michele R. Hacker, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School; Non-Presenting Author: Rosalind J. Wright, Kravis Children’s Hospital and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

• The Enduring Effect of Childhood Adversity on Chronic Cortisol Secretion at the End of Adolescence: The Highs and Lows - Presenting Author: Isabelle Ouellet-Morin, University of Montreal and the Montreal Mental Health University Institute; Non-Presenting Author: Christina Cantave, University of Montreal; Non-Presenting Author: Sylvana Côté, University of Montreal; Non-Presenting Author: Michel Boivin, Laval University

• The Association between Adversity and Hair Cortisol Levels in Humans: A Meta-Analysis - Presenting Author: Jennifer Khoury, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Hospital; Non-Presenting Author: Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Non-Presenting Author: Karlen Lyons-Ruth, Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School