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Panel 31. Solicited Content: Integrative Developmental Science

Paper #1
Community Level Adversities and Children’s Cortisol Response: Negative Impact of Discrimination and Income
Author information	Role
Maitri Jain, Eastern Michigan University, United States	Presenting author
Nestor Lopez-Duran, University of Michigan, United States	Non-presenting author
Angela D. Staples, Eastern Michigan University, United States	Non-presenting author
Jamie M. Lawler, Eastern Michigan University, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Community-level adversities such as low household income and experiences of discrimination have been shown to have adverse effects on children’s development and emotion regulation (e.g., Duncan et al., 2014; Tran et al., 2013). However, there are not many studies that have assessed the association between the two community factors and children’s cortisol recovery from stress. Cortisol reactivity and recovery are robust physiological markers of emotion regulation, especially in the early childhood period. While research has found higher household income to be associated with lower diurnal cortisol in toddlers (e.g., Brown et al., 2019; Zalewski et al., 2021), there have not been many studies assessing the association of income with toddlers’ cortisol reactivity and recovery. There is even less evidence for how experiences of discrimination affect preschoolers’ cortisol response. Studies conducted on infants (Dismukes et al., 2018) and school-age children (Condon et al., 2019) have found higher experiences of discrimination to be associated with higher cortisol reactivity, and higher diurnal cortisol levels in children, respectively. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the relationship of parent-reported experiences of discrimination and household income with cortisol recovery in 62 pre-school aged children (Mean age = 46.8 months [36-59], SD = 6.8, Table 1). We chose the early childhood age as it is an important period when children are gaining the skills of autonomous emotion regulation. Many studies have shown that exposure to novel situations is stressful for children (e.g., Ruttle et al., 2011). We therefore explored cortisol recovery as children’s adaptation to the lab environment. Saliva samples were collected at arrival (T1) and 30-minutes post arrival (T2), during which the child was engaged in various play activities with the parent. Samples were assayed using the Salimetrics Salivary Cortisol Assay Kit without modifications to the manufacturers’ protocol. We calculated cortisol recovery as T2-T1 cortisol levels. We controlled for time of day and baseline cortisol levels in all regression models. The amount of discrimination experienced by the family was assessed by the parent-reported Everyday Discrimination Scale (Williams et al., 1997), with higher scores representing higher levels of experienced discrimination. The annual household income was also reported by parents in USD. The change in cortisol levels from T1 to T2 ranged from -84 µg/dL (decrease) to 143 µg/dL (increase) (M = -18.5 µg/dL; SD = 38.5 µg/dL). Children of parents who reported higher experiences of discrimination (β = 0.33, R^2 = .18, p = .002) as well as lower income (β = -0.28, R^2 = .28, p = .03) showed lesser cortisol recovery at T2 (Figure 1). There can be multiple reasons for these findings. It is possible that children exposed to community adversities experience the lab environment differently than those without any experience of these adversities. It is also possible that community-level adversities negatively impact preschoolers’ physiological regulation during an essential age of socio-emotional development. However, more replication of these results with diverse samples is required to bolster the findings.

Paper #2
Associations of Family Socioeconomic Status and Relationships with Adolescent Autonomic Regulation
Author information	Role
Joanna Y. Guan, University of California, Davis, United States	Presenting author
Scarlett Lopez-Aguilar, University of California, Davis, United States	Non-presenting author
Kelsey Sennett, University of California, Davis, United States	Non-presenting author
Camelia E. Hostinar, University of California, Davis, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Difficult childhood environments, such as troubled family relationships and low socioeconomic status (SES), have been linked to poorer health outcomes across the lifespan (Chen et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2017; Miller & Chen, 2013). These childhood hardships may trigger prolonged and heightened physiological stress responses and slow recovery, ultimately heightening risk for poor health (Chida & Steptoe, 2010; Epel et al., 2018, Panaite et al., 2015; Ursache et al., 2015). The present study aimed to assess associations of different measures of subjective and objective SES and parent- and child-reported relationship quality with post-stress autonomic nervous system (ANS) recovery to uncover mechanisms through which family environments may shape physiological regulation. Study participants include 232 adolescents ages 11-15 years old (M = 12.97 years, SD =1.26, Table 1). Parents and adolescents reported on their respective perceptions of conflict with each other using the Parent-Adolescent Conflict Scale (Jensen-Campbell & Graziano, 1996). Parents completed the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status—Adult Version (Adler, et al., 1994) and reported on annual family income. Adolescents reported on attachment insecurity with the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (Brennings et al., 2014), completed the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status—Youth Version (Goodman, et al., 2003), and underwent a social evaluative stressor. ANS activity recordings were collected using pediatric electrodes and a Mindware Mobile Electrocardiograph Device during a resting baseline period, throughout the stressor, and a post-stressor recovery period. Respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA) and pre-ejection period (PEP) are used to assess parasympathetic (PNS) and sympathetic nervous system activity (SNS), respectively. Peak-stressor RSA/PEP values are subtracted from the respective post-stressor value to calculate the recovery score. Separate regression models examined the effects of family relationships and socioeconomic status on recovery (i.e., post-stress) RSA. Preliminary findings revealed that adolescents in families with higher annual household income showed greater RSA recovery post-stressor (b=0.07, p=.014; Figure 1A), and this association remained significant after including age and sex as covariates (b=0.07, p=.015). Parent-reported SES, child-reported SES, and parental educational attainment were not significantly associated with RSA recovery (p’s >.05). In a model including parent-reported and child-reported conflict, as well as adolescent attachment as predictors of recovery RSA, only attachment insecurity was significantly associated with less RSA recovery (b=-2.26, p=.025; Figure 1B). This association remained significant after including age and sex as covariates (b=-2.64, p=.009). Data processing is currently ongoing and final analyses will also include regression models with recovery PEP as the dependent variable. These initial findings suggest that attachment security, which is rooted in early parent-infant interactions, may be more significantly shaping parasympathetic nervous system regulation compared to concurrent reports of parent-adolescent conflict. Further, objective measures of SES, such as annual family income, is significantly associated with RSA recovery, while neither models of parent nor adolescent report subjective social status as predictors were significant. These findings may illuminate pathways through which family environments shape both parasympathetic and sympathetic processes to regulate adolescents’ physiological activity, with likely implications for later health outcomes.

Paper #3
Association Between Exposure to Stressors and Hair Cortisol Among Adolescents
Author information	Role
Kenia M. Rivera, University of Denver, United States	Presenting author
Gillian Acedo, University of Denver, United States	Non-presenting author
Hany M. Khattab, Denver Health, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado, United States	Non-presenting author
George M. Slavich, University of California, Los Angeles, United States	Non-presenting author
Jenalee R. Doom, University of Denver, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Psychosocial stress in adolescence is associated with cortisol dysregulation, including both higher and lower levels or chronic cortisol output (e.g., Doom & Cicchetti, 2018). Both high and low levels of chronic cortisol output have been associated with mental health problems in adolescents. Chronic cortisol output spanning the last three months can be captured in hair samples, which is useful to understand associations between stress and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation over time. There is evidence that associations between stress and cortisol regulation may differ by sex. As a result, the objective of this study is to examine whether there is a sex difference in the association between stress exposure and hair cortisol among adolescents. Adolescents aged 13-15 years (n = 136; 45.59% female) who provided a hair sample were included in the current analyses. Adolescents’ history of lifetime stressor exposure and recent stressor exposure (i.e., past 12 months) were assessed using the Stress and Adversity Inventory for Adolescents (STRAIN Adolescent; Slavich et al., 2019). The measure assessed 75 different stressors that included acute life events and chronic events. Hair was collected during the lab visit and assayed for cortisol. Separate correlations by sex were conducted to test the association between lifetime stressor exposure, recent stressor exposure, and hair cortisol. Among females, higher recent stressor severity was associated with higher hair cortisol at the trend level (r = .24, p = .065) but lifetime stressor severity was not associated with hair cortisol (r = .13, p = .327). Among males, neither recent stressor severity nor lifetime stressor severity was associated with hair cortisol (r = -.03, p = .781; r = -.07, p = .571). There was no evidence of quadratic associations between stress and hair cortisol within either sex. Our preliminary results showed that only females showed the expected association between greater recent stress and higher hair cortisol. These preliminary findings suggest that there might be a sex-specific association between recent stress levels and hair cortisol, although replication in larger study sample is needed. It is unclear whether higher cortisol levels may support the association between higher stress and mental health problems for adolescent females. Data cleaning for the study is ongoing, and final results after including covariates will be completed by the time of the SRCD conference.

Paper #4
Maternal Depression, Parenting, and Adolescent Epigenetic Aging
Author information	Role
Michael V. Cataluna, University of Georgia, United States	Presenting author
Kalsea J Koss, University of Georgia, United States	Non-presenting author
Abstract
Higher than expected epigenetic age, relative to one’s chronological age, is posited as a measure of biological weathering that is associated with greater risk for disease and mortality later in life. Childhood exposure to maternal depression may shape offspring’s DNA methylation. Changes in specific DNA methylation markers track with the aging process (e.g., epigenetic aging clocks). Although maternal depression has been linked to increased epigenetic aging in offspring, less is known about the environmental mediators leading to youth’s accelerated aging. Maternal depression’s detrimental effect on parenting may be due to symptoms such as fatigue, anhedonia, loss of interest, and irritability limiting parents’ ability to adequately care for their offspring. We examine three dimensions of parenting: physical aggression, psychological aggression, and engagement as possible behavioral mechanisms through which maternal depression becomes biologically embedded in offspring. Data were from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study consisting of 4,898 families with children born between 1998 and 2000. Unmarried parents were oversampled (3:1 ratio). This multi-ethnic longitudinal study includes a large number of minority and low-income families. Survey data was collected at the child’s birth, and again at ages one, three, five, nine, and fifteen. Saliva samples were collected at ages nine and fifteen, and epigenetic data was analyzed using either Illumina Methylation450k or Illumina MethylationEPIC arrays. Including only those who provided samples data resulted in a subsample of 1971 families, among whom 50.33% were male, 47.44% Black, 26.23% Hispanic, 25.31% White, and 3.55% of other racial/ethnic backgrounds. Maternal depression was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form (CIDI-SF). The number of time points at which mothers met criteria for a depression diagnosis throughout the study (when their child was ages 1, 3, 5, and 9 years old) was used as a marker of chronicity of depression. Maternal dimensions of parenting at age 9 included physical and psychological aggression using the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) as well as maternal engagement assessed using age-relevant activities (e.g. discussing current events, playing outdoors, and watching TV together). A latent change score model was fit to estimate accelerated epigenetic aging from ages 9 to 15 after removing the effects of chronological age. We examined three epigenetic age clocks trained on long term health outcomes, including PhenoAge, GrimAge, and Dunedin PACE. Results indicated that maternal harsh parenting (e.g., physical aggression) served as a unique environmental mediator such that more chronic maternal depression throughout childhood was associated with increased maternal physical aggression (β=.11, p<.001) which in turn was associated with greater increase in accelerated epigenetic age between ages 9 and 15 years (β=.06, p<.05) (using the GrimAge epigenetic clock; indirect effect estimate: β=.01, p<.05). Neither maternal engagement nor psychological aggression mediated these associations. This suggests that physically aggressive parenting may be a mechanism through which maternal depression leads to poor long-term health. Understanding the behavioral mechanisms that place youth at risk for long-term health risks provide important targets for prevention and intervention.

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