Externalizing and Internalizing Problems: Associations with Family Adversity and Young Children's Adrenocortical and Autonomic Functioning.

ABSTRACT: The development of child mental health problems has been associated with experiences of adversity and dysregulation of stress response systems; however, past research has largely focused on externalizing or internalizing problems (rather than their co-occurrence) and single physiological systems in high-risk adolescent samples. The present study examined whether cumulative family adversity, functioning in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (i.e., cortisol) and the parasympathetic nervous system (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]), and their interactions, predicted trajectories of co-occurring externalizing and internalizing problems among young children. Participants included 338 socioeconomically and racially diverse children (M age = 5.32 years, SD = .32; male = 51.8%) from a

SUBMITTER: Goulter N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9665309 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature