Early-life adversity and cortisol response to social stress: a meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: Early-life adversity has been associated with a life-long increased risk for psychopathology and chronic health problems. These long-term negative effects have been explained through stress sensitization, which may involve dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis through either increased or decreased reactivity. The present meta-analysis assessed for the first time the effect of early-life adversity on cortisol response to social stress. Thirty data sets were included in the meta-analysis, in which early-life adversity and salivary cortisol response to social stress were assessed in 4292 individuals of different ages. Results indicated a moderate effect size (g = -0.39) in overall cortisol levels across studies. Separate analyses of cortisol at different stages of res

SUBMITTER: Bunea IM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5802499 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature