Exploring longitudinal associations between neighborhood disadvantage and cortisol levels in early childhood.
Exploring longitudinal associations between neighborhood disadvantage and cortisol levels in early childhood.
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探索幼儿期邻里劣势与皮质醇水平之间的纵向关联。
DOI：
10.1017/s0954579417001304
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发表时间：
2017-12
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Family Life Project Investigators
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Finegood ED;Rarick JRD;Blair C;Family Life Project Investigators
在贫困中长大的儿童更有可能经历慢性压力源，这些压力源会对包括下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴在内的压力调节系统产生“磨损”。这可能会对健康和福祉产生长期影响。先前的研究已经考察了近亲和家庭对 HPA 轴功能的作用。然而，有证据表明，包括社区在内的更远端的环境水平也很重要。先前的证据主要集中于青少年和成人，几乎没有证据表明邻里环境与婴儿期和幼儿期的 HPA 活动有关。我们在主要居住在美国低收入和农村社区的大量家庭样本（N = 1,292）中测试了邻里劣势（以美国人口普查数据为索引）是否与儿童 7、15 和 24 个月时的基础唾液皮质醇水平相关。多层次模型表明，邻里劣势与唾液皮质醇水平呈正相关，并且这种效应随着时间的推移而出现。这种效应受到儿童种族/民族的调节，因此仅在我们样本中的白人儿童中观察到这种关联。研究结果提供了初步证据，表明邻里环境与幼儿期的压力调节有关，阐明了未来工作需要解决可能的机制。
Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to experience chronic stressors that generate “wear” on stress regulatory systems including the hypothalamus– pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. This can have long-term consequences for health and well-being. Prior research has examined the role of proximal family and home contributions to HPA axis functioning. However, there is evidence to suggest that more distal levels of context, including neighborhoods, also matter. Prior evidence has primarily focused on adolescents and adults, with little evidence linking the neighborhood context with HPA activity in infancy and toddlerhood. We tested whether neighborhood disadvantage (indexed by US Census data) was associated with basal salivary cortisol levels at 7, 15, and 24 months of child age in a large sample of families (N = 1,292) residing in predominately low-income and rural communities in the United States. Multilevel models indicated that neighborhood disadvantage was positively associated with salivary cortisol levels and that this effect emerged across time. This effect was moderated by the race/ethnicity of children such that the association was only observed in White children in our sample. Findings provide preliminary evidence that the neighborhood context is associated with stress regulation during toddlerhood, elucidating a need for future work to address possible mechanisms.