Stress During Transition From Preschool to School: Cortisol Patterns and the Development of Internalizing Problems

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Knowing that 50% of mental health problems develop before age 14 (Jones, 2013; Kessler et al., 2005), it is essential to identify an early mechanism of mental health vulnerabilities. Internalizing problems are also associated with exposition to high or prolonged stress, objectively measured by cortisol concentrations (Lupien, McEwen, Gunnar and Heim, 2009). According to the diathesis-stress theory, some vulnerable children (for example those experiencing early adversity) could be prone to mental health problems after an exposition to environmental stressors (Koss and Gunnar, 2018). Some studies suggest one of these environmental stressors could be the transition from preschool to school because it is associated with an increase in cortisol concentrations (Parent, Lupien, Herba, Dupéré, Gunnar and Séguin, 2019). Further, one out of 10 children showing vulnerabilities during early childhood and experiencing difficulties during transition from preschool to school, would meet diagnostic criteria of externalizing or internalizing disorders (Carter et al., 2010). Thus, the school transition is an important period for the development of internalizing disorders, and this suggests that individual differences in the stress response of children could accentuate vulnerabilities among children. Previous studies partially support those hypotheses, but do not establish functional correlates and follow children unregularly and for short periods of time. The aim of this research project will be to test whether atypical cortisol responses during school transition are associated with internalizing symptoms after school transition. We hypothesize that atypical cortisol responses during school transition, for example children showing significantly higher stress responses at school entry, will be associated with greater levels of internalizing symptoms when the child is 6 years old.

To test our hypotheses, we will study 384 children (52% girls), recruited from two cohorts of a pregnancy study, who entered kindergarten in August 2017 and 2018. Parents took morning salivary cortisol samples from their children (30 minutes after awakening) at 5 different points across transition. Cortisol concentration were assessed twice before school entry in June (t1; baseline) and mid-August (t2) and 3 times after school entry during the first (t3) and second week (t4) of school, then 2 months after school entry in November (t5). Preliminary analyses show an average cortisol increase during the first two weeks of school and recuperation to baseline 2 months after school entry. Further, internalizing symptoms were measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman et al., 2010) completed by the parents when the children were 6 years old. We now plan to use latent growth mixture models to identify different longitudinal cortisol patterns across time and children. Then, those trajectories will be associated with internalized symptoms as an outcome. Our laboratory team, being specialized in longitudinal analysis of developmental data, is well trained for these types of analysis.

This study will be a first step in identifying early mechanism of vulnerability and resilience to internalizing disorders in children. In future projects, moderators of the child’s social environment will be identified, offering new insights for research in early prevention. School entry will be a critical moment for systematic prevention.

Authors

• Maggy Leblond, Université de Montréal (UdeM)
  Presenting Author

• Sophie Parent, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Natalie Castellanos Ryan, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sonia Lupien, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• William D. Fraser, Université de Sherbrooke
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jean Richard Seguin, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author