Parasympathetic and adrenocortical activity influence the effects of childhood adversity on negative affect following stress

Abstract

BackgroundChildhood adversity increases risk of anxiety and depression throughout life potentially by disrupting emotional regulation. Not all survivors of childhood adversity develop such problems. Recent research suggests that some individuals may be protected from the harmful effects of childhood maltreatment by specific alterations of the physiological stress response systems, which includes the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and parasympathetic nervous system. Since these systems influence the appraisal and encoding of threatening information, they may buffer individuals from the effects of stress on mood. Here, we tested whether childhood adversity interacts with HPA and parasympathetic responsivity to affect negative mood after stress.MethodsWe exposed 41 healthy young adults to a standardized psychosocial stressor. Negative affect (depression, tension, anger, confusion and fatigue) was measured before and after stress. Throughout the procedure, we repeatedly sampled salivary cortisol, an HPA axis marker, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a parasympathetic marker. Childhood adversity was assessed via retrospective self-reported mother-care.ResultsWhile mother-care did not significantly affect negative mood before stress, lower mother-care predicted higher negative affect after stress. This effect was significantly moderated by both cortisol, and RSA responsivity such that low mother-care participants showed less post-stress negative affect if they had higher RMSSD, or higher peak cortisol, after stress.ConclusionsConsistent with past literature, maternal neglect, a potent form of childhood adversity, accompanies higher negative affect after stress. Higher HPA and parasympathetic activity may potentially protect childhood adversity survivors from excessive negative affect following stressful events.