Social bonds do not mediate the relationship between early adversity and adult glucocorticoids in wild baboons.

ABSTRACT: In humans and other animals, harsh conditions in early life can have profound effects on adult physiology, including the stress response. This relationship may be mediated by a lack of supportive relationships in adulthood. That is, early life adversity may inhibit the formation of supportive social ties, and weak social support is itself often linked to dysregulated stress responses. Here, we use prospective, longitudinal data from wild baboons in Kenya to test the links between early adversity, adult social bonds, and adult fecal glucocorticoid hormone concentrations (a measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal [HPA] axis activation and the stress response). Using a causal inference framework, we found that experiencing one or more sources of early adversity led to a 9 to 14% increase in

SUBMITTER: Rosenbaum S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7443977 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature