Emotion regulation moderates the association between parent and child hair cortisol concentrations

Successful emotion regulation facilitates children's coping with everyday stress. It develops rapidly in the early preschool period. However, no work has been done to investigate the potential buffering role of emotion regulation from cumulative physiological effects of stress. In this study, we examined hair cortisol concentration (HCC), an early marker of chronic physiological stress, socioeconomic status (SES), parental sensitivity, and emotion regulation and reactivity in a sample of 3.5-year-old children (N = 86). Emotion regulation and emotional reactivity were independent of child HCC. However, emotion regulation moderated the relationship between parent and child HCC. For children with better emotion regulation, there was no association between parent and child HCC, suggesting that emotion regulation skills buffered the transgenerational effects of chronic physiological stress. Emotional reactivity moderated the relationship between SES and child HCC, and attenuated the association between parental sensitivity and child HCC. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that children who were less emotionally reactive were less susceptible to their environments. Results provide support that child emotion regulation and emotional reactivity can reduce or strengthen the relationship between established risk factors and levels of chronic physiological stress in early childhood.     

Maternal expressive suppression moderates the relations between maternal and child hair cortisol

Self-reports and physiological indicators of stress such as cortisol levels are correlated in maternal and child samples. This relationship is likely to be influenced by maternal emotion regulation. Herein, we investigate the moderating role of maternal regulation strategies on the association between maternal and child hair cortisol levels. Mother–child dyads (N = 63, child mean age = 49.74 months) participated in the study. Hair samples were collected from mother and child, and cortisol was assayed. Mothers reported on their own emotion regulation strategies, namely expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal. As expected, mother and child hair cortisol levels were significantly correlated. Interestingly, the relation between maternal and child hair cortisol was moderated by maternal suppression of emotion. Mother and child hair cortisol levels were related at low levels of maternal suppression, but not at higher levels of suppression. Maternal cognitive reappraisal of emotion was not associated with cortisol levels.     

A mutation in the hair matrix and cuticle keratin KRTHB5 gene causes ectodermal dysplasia of hair and nail type

Background

Ectodermal dysplasias are developmental disorders affecting tissues of ectodermal origin. To date, four different types of ectodermal dysplasia involving only hair and nails have been described. In an effort to understand the molecular bases of this form of ectodermal dysplasia, large Pakistani consanguineous kindred with multiple affected individuals has been ascertained from a remote region in Pakistan.

Objective

To identify the gene underlying the phenotype.

Methods

Microsatellite markers were genotyped in candidate regions and two point and multipoint parametric linkage analysis carried out.

Results

The disease locus was mapped to a 16.6 centimorgan region on chromosome 12q12–q14.1 (Z_max = 8.2), which harbours six type II hair keratin genes. DNA sequence analysis revealed a homozygous missense mutation in the hair matrix and cuticle keratin KRTHB5, leading to histidine substitution of a conserved arginine residue (R78H) located in the head domain.

Conclusions

This report provides the first direct evidence relating to the molecular pathogenesis of pure hair–nail ectodermal dysplasias.     

Examining the role of socioeconomic status and temperament in the hair cortisol levels of infants

Socioeconomic status (SES) appears to be an important contextual factor in children's developmental outcomes, including their responses to stress. However, some children are more susceptible to its effects than others. Hair cortisol is a newer method of assessing the activity of the HPA axis, providing cumulative cortisol levels. The present article examined whether temperament (negative emotionality) moderates the association between an SES index and the hair cortisol concentration (HCC) of infants. Sixty infants from 6 to 15 months of age were recruited, of which 49 had sufficient hair for cortisol analysis. The SES index was calculated from the education levels of the mothers, family income, and a scale measuring the quality of the home environment. Negative emotionality was measured with the three sub‐scales of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (falling reactivity, distress to limitations, and fear). Among infants low in negative emotionality, there was no association between SES and cortisol. In contrast, among those high in negative emotionality, a significant association was obtained. These infants showed lower levels of HCC in lower‐SES environments. The findings suggest that there are individual differences in reacting to the environment, and low levels of cortisol (not high) were found in susceptible infants in lower‐SES families.     

Hair cortisol as a measure of the stress response to social adversity in young children

Hair cortisol has the potential to provide insight into young children's long-term stress response to social adversity. This study investigated associations between children's exposure to adversity from pregnancy to 2 years of age and their hair cortisol at 2 years, using a longitudinal cohort of children enriched for adversity risk, whose mothers were recruited during pregnancy through the “right@home” trial. Exposures were 18 maternal socioeconomic and psychosocial indicators of adversity, examined as concurrent, cumulative, and longitudinal exposure from pregnancy to 2 years. Hair samples were analyzed from 319/603 (53%) children participating at 2 years. Multivariable regression analyses for concurrent exposure showed three indicators of adversity were associated with higher hair cortisol (housing tenure of public rental, paying board or living rent free; not living in a safe place; higher maternal stress symptoms), one with lower hair cortisol (housing problems), and 14 indicators with no evidence of association. There was no evidence of association for the cumulative adversity count. Longitudinal exposure showed “intermittent” and “persistent” high maternal stress symptoms were associated with higher hair cortisol. The small number of associations identified suggests that hair cortisol is limited as a measure of stress response to social adversity in children at 2 years.     

Maternal hair cortisol levels as a novel predictor of neonatal abstinence syndrome severity: A pilot feasibility study

Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) after in-utero opioid exposure remains a poorly understood condition with multiple factors contributing to severity. Exposure to maternal stress may be one contributing factor. Hair cortisol measurement represents a novel technique for assessing prenatal stress. In this pilot study, the association between maternal hair cortisol levels and NAS severity was examined in 70 postpartum women with opioid use disorder within 72 hr of delivery. Infants were monitored for NAS and treated according to institutional protocol. Forty-four (63%) of the infants were pharmacologically treated for NAS, with a mean length of hospital stay (LOS) for all infants of 14.2 (SD 9.0) days. The mean cortisol level in the mothers was 131.8 pg/mg (SD 124.7). In bivariate analysis, higher maternal hair cortisol levels were associated with shorter infant LOS (R = −.26, p = .03) and fewer infant opioid treatment days (R = −.28, p = .02). Results were no longer statistically significant in regression models after adjusting for maternal opioid and smoking. In conclusion, we demonstrated the feasibility of hair cortisol assaying within the first few days after delivery in mothers with opioid use disorder as a novel marker for NAS. The findings suggest that maternal stress may impact the severity of infant opioid withdrawal.     

Work family balance, stress, and salivary cortisol in men and women academic physicians

Background: The stress of medical practice has been recurrently studied, but work- and family-related determinants of health by gender remain under researched. Purpose: To test the hypothesis that cortisol excretion would be affected by the perceived severity of total workload imbalance. Method: By hierarchical regression analysis, the associations between work-family balance and diurnal salivary cortisol levels by sex in academic physicians (n = 40) were investigated. Results: Men physicians reported more paid work hours per week than women physicians and women more time in childcare, but their total working hours were similar. Controlling for sex and age, the mean of the diurnal cortisol release was associated with a combined effect of sex and responsibility at home. When morning cortisol, sex, and children at home were held constant, cortisol levels in the evening were associated with responsibility at home without significant gender interaction. Conclusion: With increasing responsibility at home, women and men reacted differently with regard to cortisol responses over the day. However, in the evening, controlling for the morning cortisol, these gender differences were not as obvious. These findings highlight traditional gender patterns among both women and men physicians in the challenge of finding a balance between work and family.     

The effect of pain,stress, and cortisol during labor on breastfeeding success

The aim of the study is to identify and compare the effect of pain, stress, and cortisol level during labor on breastfeeding success. The study was conducted with 51 pregnant women in the delivery room of Nenehatun Maternity Hospital between 15 August and 30 December 2016. The data were collected using the personal information form, visual analog scale (VAS), verbal category scale (VCS), perceived stress scale (PSS) and Breastfeeding Diagnostic and Assessment Scale (LATCH). It was determined that the total mean score of the mothers for the LATCH breastfeeding success scale was 6.56 ± 1.64, the perceived stress scale total mean score was 48.13 ± 4.09 in their active phase, and the perceived stress scale total mean score was 41.41 ± 5.78 in their postpartum period. A negative moderate significant correlation was observed between the LATCH breastfeeding success scale mean scores and the cortisol levels in the active phase and postpartum period. It was found that the LATCH had a significant correlation with the perceived stress and cortisol in the postpartum period. It was determined that the mothers had more stress in the active phase and this stress affected negatively the lactation and sucking behavior of the infant.     

Cognition in childhood anxiety: conceptual,methodological, and developmental issues

Anxiety disorders are one of the most common psychiatric disorders in the general child population and can have significant impact on immediate and long-term functioning. Despite the common use of cognitive-behavioral interventions that target specific, negative thoughts in anxious children, it is unclear that the extant literature clearly documents cognitive aberrations among these children. In this review, conceptual and methodological issues related to the assessment of cognition in anxious children are highlighted and empirical data addressing these areas are evaluated. Furthermore, data addressing cognitive change as a function of treatment outcome is examined, and the impact of cognitive development as a moderating variable is discussed. Finally, areas for future research are presented.     

Socially oriented thinking and the biological stress response: Thinking of friends and family predicts trajectories of salivary cortisol decline

The cortisol stress response has been related to perceived social support, but previous studies rely on self‐reported social support variables. The cortisol recovery phase in particular has been theorized to serve a social coping function, but individual differences in recovery slope have not yet been examined in relation to social coping‐relevant indices. This study addressed these gaps by examining the relationship of cortisol trajectories after a socioevaluative task to individual differences in covertly assessed cognitions related to close social relationships. We examined trajectories of cortisol change related to socially oriented thinking, the semi‐implicit activation of cognitive representations of friends or family. Young adults (N = 64) gave salivary cortisol samples before and for 45 min after a speech task. Participants' thoughts were sampled repeatedly; the frequency of words related to friends or family was assessed to index socially oriented thinking. A free curve slope intercept latent growth curve model showed excellent fit with the cortisol data. Socially oriented thinking was unrelated to overall magnitude of cortisol response to the task (latent intercept) but predicted the latent cortisol trajectory, independently of cortisol intercept and baseline cortisol levels. Socially oriented thinkers showed more gradual cortisol declines, whereas nonsocially oriented thinkers showed a steeper downslope driven primarily by cortisol changes 45 min after the task. Individual differences in socially oriented thinking may manifest in different rates of biological changes following a performance task.     

Conceptual, methodological, and analytical issues in the study of relapse

This article examines conceptual, methodological, and analytic issues in research on relapse to alcohol and other drug use. The review notes the continued move in relapse research from a primary reliance on retrospective assessment of factors surrounding the onset of relapse episodes to an increased focus on the use of new technologies to obtain "near real time" data on proximal factors in relapses. Recent advances in neurobiology have yielded important gains in our understanding of vulnerability to relapse in alcohol and other drug abusers. New statistical techniques are also available to analyze data on relapse. From a theoretical standpoint, there has been an increasing appreciation for the complicated and dynamic interplay of distal and proximal factors in the relapse process. At this point, the strongest and most detailed data on factors in the onset and course of relapse have been generated by studies of smoking relapses that have made use of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) technology. However, there is still limited "near real" time data on proximal factors in alcohol and other drug relapses, and no such data on factors that influence the course of these relapses, once they have begun. Nevertheless, important methodological advances have been and continue to be made in the study of relapse, and our knowledge about the nature and process of relapse has increased considerably over the past 10 years.     

Effect of stress on basophil function in chronic idiopathic urticaria

Background Chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) is a distressing skin condition involving recurrent itchy hives lasting 6 weeks or longer. The mechanism involves mast cell and basophil degranulation, which releases inflammatory mediators including histamine. In our clinical practice, we have observed that the onset of CIU is often preceded by a major life event. Objective To investigate the role of the hormones of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis in the link between psychological stress and CIU. Methods Thirty people with CIU and 30 normal controls were recruited. A flow cytometric CD63 expression assay was used to quantify basophil activation, and serum cortisol concentrations were measured as an indication of stress. Results Both corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) and adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) were shown to activate basophils. There was no significant difference between numbers of CIU patients and normal controls responding to CFR, ACTH or cortisol. However, the responses in the CIU patients were stronger than those in normal controls. There was also a trend towards higher serum cortisol concentrations in CIU patients. The basophil response to CRF and ACTH correlated with the serum cortisol concentration in normal controls, but not in CIU patients. Conclusions Although our data have not supported the hypothesis that stress makes a major contribution to CIU, the heightened basophil response to CFR and ACTH and higher levels of serum cortisol do suggest a derangement of the HPA axis in CIU.