Einfluß elterlicher Fürsorgeerfahrungen auf basale Regulation und Stressreaktivität der Hypothalamus-Hypophysen-Nebennierenrinden-Achse, Stressreaktivität des dopaminergen Neurotransmittersystems sowie die Entwicklung psychischer und behavioraler Auffälligkeiten im Erwachsenenalter
Final Report Abstract
Patterns of adverse parental bonding have been shown to enhance vulnerability for negative health behaviors (i.e. drug abuse) and physical and mental illness (i.e. depression, anxiety). With respect to the neurochemical mechanisms mediating these associations, animal studies report correlations between the quality of early life maternal care and alterations at the level of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the dopamine system, both of which are critically involved in the pathophysiology of drug abuse, depression and anxiety. Focusing on HPA axis regulation, the central aim of this project was to examine the neurochemical link between variations in parent-child relationships and psychological adjustment in adulthood. We could confirm the existence of a strong association between the quality of early life parental care experiences and various measures of psychological wellbeing in 250 healthy (male and female) adults. In 58 out of the initial 250 participants, low as opposed to high early life parental care experiences predicted elevated awakening and diurnal cortisol levels. Since low early life parental care was also associated with lower levels of self-esteem, and higher levels of depression and anxiety, we suggest that elevated basal cortisol measures might reflect a biological correlate of adversity-induced vulnerability for psychopathology. In roughly the same subsample (n=63) we also found that stress-induced cortisol levels went from below normal in the low maternal care, to normal in the medium care, back to below normal in the high maternal care individuals. Whereas low and high maternal care groups exhibited similarly low endocrine stress responses, their psychological profiles were opposed with increased levels of depression and anxiety and decreased self-esteem in the low care group. These data present an intriguing novel perspective on long-term HPA axis programming in that they show an inverted u-shaped relationship between early life maternal care experiences and cortisol stress responsivity. In a group of 37 healthy (male and female) elderly, we confirmed a possible model of stress regulation, in which hippocampal volume and self-esteem mediated the relationship between parental care and the cortisol stress response. Eventually, a pilot study with 43 healthy male adults yielded indirect evidence for an influence of parental bonding on dopaminergic regulation by showing that the behavioral response to the indirect dopamine agonist methylphenidate interacts with early life parental care experiences.
Publications
- (2009). Behavioral response to methylphenidate challenge: influence of early life parental care. Developmental Psychobiology, 51(5), 408-416
Engert V, Joober R, Meaney MJ, Hellhammer DH, Pruessner JC
- (2010). Investigating the association between parental care and stress responsivity in adulthood. Developmental Neuropsychology, 35(5):570-581
Engert V, Buss C, Khalili-Mahani N, Wadiwalla M, Dedovic K, Pruessner JC
- (2010). Perceived early life maternal care and the cortisol response to repeated psychosocial stress. Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 35(6):370-377
Engert V, Efanov SI, Dedovic K, Duchesne A, Dagher A, Pruessner JC
- (2011). Increased cortisol awakening response and afternoon/evening cortisol output in healthy young adults with low early life parental care. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 214(1): 261-268
Engert V, Efanov SI, Dedovic K, Pruessner JC
