Natalie L Colich1, Margaret A Sheridan2, Kathryn L Humphreys3, Mark Wade4, Florin Tibu5, Charles A Nelson6,7, Charles H Zeanah8, Nathan A Fox9, Katie A McLaughlin10. 1. Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. 2. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. 3. Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA. 4. Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. 5. Department of Health and Human Development, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania. 6. Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 7. Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, USA. 8. Department of Psychiatry, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA. 9. Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA. 10. Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Adolescence has been proposed to be a period of heightened sensitivity to environmental influence. If true, adolescence may present a window of opportunity for recovery for children exposed to early-life adversity. Recent evidence supports adolescent recalibration of stress response systems following early-life adversity. However, it is unknown whether similar recovery occurs in other domains of functioning in adolescence. METHODS: We use data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project - a randomized controlled trial of foster care for children raised in psychosocially depriving institutions - to examine the associations of the caregiving environment with reward processing, executive functioning, and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology at ages 8, 12, and 16 years, and evaluate whether these associations change across development. RESULTS: Higher quality caregiving in adolescence was associated with greater reward responsivity and lower levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, after covarying for the early-life caregiving environment. The associations of caregiving with executive function and internalizing and externalizing symptoms varied by age and were strongest at age 16 relative to ages 8 and 12 years. This heightened sensitivity to caregiving in adolescence was observed in both children with and without exposure to early psychosocial neglect. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescence may be a period of heightened sensitivity to the caregiving environment, at least for some domains of functioning. For children who experience early psychosocial deprivation, this developmental period may be a window of opportunity for recovery of some functions. Albeit correlational, these findings suggest that it may be possible to reverse or remediate some of the lasting effects of early-life adversity with interventions that target caregiving during adolescence.
BACKGROUND: Adolescence has been proposed to be a period of heightened sensitivity to environmental influence. If true, adolescence may present a window of opportunity for recovery for children exposed to early-life adversity. Recent evidence supports adolescent recalibration of stress response systems following early-life adversity. However, it is unknown whether similar recovery occurs in other domains of functioning in adolescence. METHODS: We use data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project - a randomized controlled trial of foster care for children raised in psychosocially depriving institutions - to examine the associations of the caregiving environment with reward processing, executive functioning, and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology at ages 8, 12, and 16 years, and evaluate whether these associations change across development. RESULTS: Higher quality caregiving in adolescence was associated with greater reward responsivity and lower levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, after covarying for the early-life caregiving environment. The associations of caregiving with executive function and internalizing and externalizing symptoms varied by age and were strongest at age 16 relative to ages 8 and 12 years. This heightened sensitivity to caregiving in adolescence was observed in both children with and without exposure to early psychosocial neglect. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescence may be a period of heightened sensitivity to the caregiving environment, at least for some domains of functioning. For children who experience early psychosocial deprivation, this developmental period may be a window of opportunity for recovery of some functions. Albeit correlational, these findings suggest that it may be possible to reverse or remediate some of the lasting effects of early-life adversity with interventions that target caregiving during adolescence.
Authors: Meg J Dennison; Maya L Rosen; Kelly A Sambrook; Jessica L Jenness; Margaret A Sheridan; Katie A McLaughlin Journal: Child Dev Date: 2017-12-21
Authors: Marilyn J Essex; W Thomas Boyce; Lauren Heim Goldstein; Jeffrey M Armstrong; Helena C Kraemer; David J Kupfer Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2002-05 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: Francis S Lee; Hakon Heimer; Jay N Giedd; Edward S Lein; Nenad Šestan; Daniel R Weinberger; B J Casey Journal: Science Date: 2014-10-31 Impact factor: 47.728
Authors: Kathryn L Humphreys; Lucy McGoron; Margaret A Sheridan; Katie A McLaughlin; Nathan A Fox; Charles A Nelson; Charles H Zeanah Journal: J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2015-10-09 Impact factor: 8.829
Authors: Cinzia R De Luca; Stephen J Wood; Vicki Anderson; Jo-Anne Buchanan; Tina M Proffitt; Kate Mahony; Christos Pantelis Journal: J Clin Exp Neuropsychol Date: 2003-04 Impact factor: 2.475
Authors: Megan R Gunnar; Carrie E DePasquale; Brie M Reid; Bonny Donzella; Bradley S. Miller Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2019-11-11 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Mark Wade; Jill Parsons; Kathryn L Humphreys; Katie A McLaughlin; Margaret A Sheridan; Charles H Zeanah; Charles A Nelson; Nathan A Fox Journal: Child Dev Perspect Date: 2022-07-13
Authors: Jennifer Lizeth Espinoza-Romero; Martha Frías-Armenta; Marc Yancy Lucas; Nadia Sarai Corral-Frías Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-01-30 Impact factor: 3.390