Year: 2021
Type: review
Abstract: Childhood adversity is associated with a host of mental and physical health problems across the lifespan. Individuals who have experienced childhood adversity (e.g., child abuse and neglect, family conflict, poor parent/child relationships, low socioeconomic status or extreme poverty) are at a greater risk for morbidity and premature mortality than those not exposed to childhood adversity. Several mechanisms likely contribute to the relationship between childhood adversity and health across the lifespan (e.g., health behaviors, cardiovascular reactivity). In this paper, we review a large body of research within the field of psychoneuroimmunology, demonstrating the relationship between early life stress and alterations of the immune system. We first review the literature demonstrating that childhood adversity is associated with immune dysregulation across different indices, including proinflammatory cytokine production (and its impact on telomere length), illness and infection susceptibility, latent herpesvirus reactivation, and immune response to a tumor. We then summarize the growing literature on how childhood adversity may alter epigenetic processes. Finally, we propose future directions related to this work that have basic and applied implications.
Source: Frontiers in Psychology
Language: English
Topic: Child Abuse and Trauma
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,950
Awards: Project Heart: Biobehavioral effects on Cardiovascular Risk for Bereaved Spouses, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Individual Differences among Dementia Spousal Caregivers: A Biobehavioral Approach to Stress Across the Lifespan, Individual differences in dementia spousal caregiver burden: A biobehavioral approach
OpenAlex ID: W3214903386