24 research outputs found
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Stability of diurnal cortisol measures across days, weeks, and years across middle childhood and early adolescence: Exploring the role of age, pubertal development, and sex.
Effective regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) has been linked to numerous health outcomes. Within-person variation in diurnal measures of HPA-axis regulation assessed over days, months, and years can range between 50-73% of total variation. In this study of 59 youth (ages 8-13), we quantified the stability of the cortisol awakening response (CAR), the diurnal slope, and tonic cortisol concentrations at waking and bedtime across 8 days (2 sets of 4 consecutive days separated by 3 weeks), 3 weeks, and 3 years. We then compared the stability of these indices across three key developmental factors: age, pubertal status, and sex. Youth provided 4 saliva samples per day (waking, 30 min post-waking, before dinner, and before bedtime) for 4 consecutive days during the 3rd week of an ongoing 8-week daily diary study. Youth repeated this same sampling procedure 3 weeks and 3 years later. Using multi-level modeling, we computed the amount of variance in diurnal HPA-axis regulation that was accounted for by nesting an individual's diurnal cortisol indices within days, weeks, or years. Across days, diurnal slope was the most stable index, whereas waking cortisol and CAR were the least stable. All indices except bedtime cortisol were similarly stable when measured across weeks, and all indices were uniformly stable when measured across 3 years. Boys, younger participants, and youth earlier in their pubertal development at study enrollment exhibited greater HPA-axis stability overall compared with females and older, more physically mature participants. We conclude that important within- and between-subjects questions can be answered about health and human development by studying HPA-axis regulation, and selection of the index of interest should be determined in part by its psychometric characteristics. To this end, we propose a decision tree to guide study design for research in pediatric samples by longitudinal timeframe and sample characteristics
Geneva Statement on Heritable Human Genome Editing: The Need for Course Correction
As public interest advocates, policy experts, bioethicists, and scientists, we call for a course correction in public discussions about heritable human genome editing. Clarifying misrepresentations, centering societal consequences and concerns, and fostering public empowerment will support robust, global public engagement and meaningful deliberation about altering the genes of future generations
Children’s Diurnal HPA-axis Activity: Assessment of Temporal Stability and Associations with Parent-child Relationship Qualities and Stress-induced HPA-axis Reactivity and Recovery
While a robust literature links childhood exposure to stressful family environments, hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA-axis) functioning, and mental and physical health outcomes, there is a paucity of research examining associations between parent-child relationship qualities and HPA-axis activity during middle childhood and adolescence. In addition, despite assumptions implicit in the allostatic load literature, little is known about the temporal stability of children’s diurnal cortisol and how children’s cortisol responses to acute stressors are concurrently related to their diurnal cortisol profiles. To address these gaps in the literature, two studies using multi-method, repeated-measures designs were carried out in an ethnically diverse community sample of 47 children aged 8 to 13. Study 1 examined naturalistic associations between two dimensions of the parent-child relationship (parent-child attachment and daily parent-child conflict) and two indicators of diurnal HPA-axis activity (children’s diurnal cortisol slopes and end-of-day cortisol levels) at the between- and within-person levels of analysis. Children’s reports of secure attachment to their fathers moderated the association between fathers’ reports of daily father-child conflict and children’s daily bedtime cortisol levels: Children who reported lower levels of secure attachment to their fathers had higher bedtime cortisol levels on higher conflict days compared to children who reported higher levels of attachment to fathers. Children’s reports of secure attachment to their mothers predicted their diurnal cortisol slopes such that higher levels of secure attachment were associated with flatter slopes. Study 2 used multilevel-model derived intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) to assess short-term temporal stability in four metrics of diurnal cortisol -- waking cortisol levels, the cortisol awakening response (CAR), diurnal slope, and bedtime cortisol levels -- over a range of 2 to 8 sample days. Associations between each diurnal cortisol metric and children’s reactivity to and recovery from the Trier Social Stress Task for Children (TSST-C) were also explored. Overall, children’s diurnal cortisol metrics were moderately stable, with highest stability estimates observed in bedtime cortisol levels and lowest estimates observed in the CAR. Overall, increasing the number of sample days did not improve stability. Better cortisol recovery from the TSST-C was significantly correlated with higher waking cortisol levels, while cortisol reactivity to the laboratory tasks was not associated with any of the diurnal cortisol variables
Recommended from our members
Stability of diurnal cortisol measures across days, weeks, and years across middle childhood and early adolescence: Exploring the role of age, pubertal development, and sex.
Effective regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA-axis) has been linked to numerous health outcomes. Within-person variation in diurnal measures of HPA-axis regulation assessed over days, months, and years can range between 50-73% of total variation. In this study of 59 youth (ages 8-13), we quantified the stability of the cortisol awakening response (CAR), the diurnal slope, and tonic cortisol concentrations at waking and bedtime across 8 days (2 sets of 4 consecutive days separated by 3 weeks), 3 weeks, and 3 years. We then compared the stability of these indices across three key developmental factors: age, pubertal status, and sex. Youth provided 4 saliva samples per day (waking, 30 min post-waking, before dinner, and before bedtime) for 4 consecutive days during the 3rd week of an ongoing 8-week daily diary study. Youth repeated this same sampling procedure 3 weeks and 3 years later. Using multi-level modeling, we computed the amount of variance in diurnal HPA-axis regulation that was accounted for by nesting an individual's diurnal cortisol indices within days, weeks, or years. Across days, diurnal slope was the most stable index, whereas waking cortisol and CAR were the least stable. All indices except bedtime cortisol were similarly stable when measured across weeks, and all indices were uniformly stable when measured across 3 years. Boys, younger participants, and youth earlier in their pubertal development at study enrollment exhibited greater HPA-axis stability overall compared with females and older, more physically mature participants. We conclude that important within- and between-subjects questions can be answered about health and human development by studying HPA-axis regulation, and selection of the index of interest should be determined in part by its psychometric characteristics. To this end, we propose a decision tree to guide study design for research in pediatric samples by longitudinal timeframe and sample characteristics
Diffuse noxious inhibitory controls reduce the expression of noxious stimulus-evoked fos-like immunoreactivity in the superficial and deep laminae of the rat spinal cord
Synergistic Ca2+ Responses by Gαi- and Gαq-coupled G-protein-coupled Receptors Require a Single PLCβ Isoform That Is Sensitive to Both Gβγ and Gαq
Ultrastructural analysis of dynorphin B-immunoreactive cells and terminals in the superficial dorsal horn of the deafferented spinal cord of the rat
Geneva Statement on Heritable Human Genome Editing: The Need for Course Correction
As public interest advocates, policy experts, bioethicists, and scientists, we call for a course correction in public discussions about heritable human genome editing. Clarifying misrepresentations, centering societal consequences and concerns, and fostering public empowerment will support robust, global public engagement and meaningful deliberation about altering the genes of future generations