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Cardiovascular reactivity as a mechanism linking child trauma to adolescent psychopathology.

ABSTRACT: Alterations in physiological reactivity to stress are argued to be central mechanisms linking adverse childhood environmental experiences to internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Childhood trauma exposure may influence physiological reactivity to stress in distinct ways from other forms of childhood adversity. This study applied a novel theoretical model to investigate the impact of childhood trauma on cardiovascular stress reactivity - the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat. This model suggests that inefficient cardiovascular responses to stress - a threat as opposed to challenge profile - are characterized by blunted cardiac output (CO) reactivity and increased vascular resistance. We examined whether childhood trauma exposure predicted an indicator of the threat profile of cardiovascular reactivity and whether such a pattern was associated with adolescent psychopathology in a population-representative sample of 488 adolescents (M=16.17years old, 49.2% boys) in the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS). Exposure to trauma was associated with both internalizing and externalizing symptoms and a pattern of cardiovascular reactivity consistent with the threat profile, including blunted CO reactivity during a social stress task. Blunted CO reactivity, in turn, was positively associated with externalizing, but not internalizing symptoms and mediated the link between trauma and externalizing psychopathology. None of these associations varied by gender. The biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat provides a novel theoretical framework for understanding disruptions in physiological reactivity to stress following childhood trauma exposure, revealing a potential pathway linking such exposure with externalizing problems in adolescents.

SUBMITTER: Heleniak C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5079268 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Cardiovascular reactivity as a mechanism linking child trauma to adolescent psychopathology.

Heleniak Charlotte C McLaughlin Katie A KA Ormel Johan J Riese Harriette H

Biological psychology 20160824

Alterations in physiological reactivity to stress are argued to be central mechanisms linking adverse childhood environmental experiences to internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Childhood trauma exposure may influence physiological reactivity to stress in distinct ways from other forms of childhood adversity. This study applied a novel theoretical model to investigate the impact of childhood trauma on cardiovascular stress reactivity - the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threa ...[more]

PMID: 27568327

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Project description:BackgroundAdolescence is a developmental period during which youth experience vulnerability to psychopathology. To build the foundation for a parsimonious psychopathology risk calculator while capturing the complexity and dynamic nature of the environment, the current study aimed to identify distinct risk and resilience profiles with a wide range of environmental factors guided by Bronfenbrenner's biopsychosocial ecological system theory. The association between the early-mid childhood risk profiles and psychopathology in adolescence were examined. Moreover, the predictive utility of early childhood irritability was evaluated in addition to the risk profiles.MethodsThe data from Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study a nation-wide longitudinal study, were used in the latent profile analyses to identify the risk profiles with family, school, and neighborhood characteristics from 3 to 9 years old. To capture the socio-environmental and cultural nuances, we extracted three subsamples, including Black/African American (n = 2587), Hispanic/Latinx (n = 1577), and White (n = 776) for separate analyses. Risk profile memberships were used to predict adolescence psychopathology, including depression, anxiety, attention deficits, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder symptoms. The predictive utility of early childhood irritability above and beyond environmental risk profiles was evaluated using stepwise regression.ResultsThree risk profiles were identified in the Hispanic/Latinx and Black/African American subsamples, while four profiles were identified in White subsample. Almost all risk profile membership predicted both internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, while some profiles are predictive of externalizing symptoms only. Higher level of irritability predicted higher symptomatology in all five mental health outcomes above and beyond the environmental profiles.ConclusionsDistinct risk and resilience profiles primarily driven by parent and family characteristics were identified for all three major race/ethnicity groups. Our findings lay the foundation for a more efficient multi-tiered information gathering process in mental health clinical settings to aid the decision making for intervention and prevention.

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Cardiovascular reactivity as a mechanism linking child trauma to adolescent psychopathology.

Publications

Cardiovascular reactivity as a mechanism linking child trauma to adolescent psychopathology.

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