Examining the effect of Early Life Stress on autonomic and endocrine indicators of individual stress reactivity.

Early life stress (ELS) is associated with altered stress reactivity and an increased risk for the development of psychopathological conditions in later life. However, depending on whether autonomic or endocrine measures were used as indicators of stress reactivity, previous studies reported conflicting findings of either increased or decreased stress reactivity after ELS experience. In the present study we therefore aimed to investigate the effect of ELS on both autonomic and endocrine indicators (heart rate and salivary cortisol) of individual stress reactivity and applied a psychosocial stress task in a sample of healthy participants with and without exposure to mild to moderate ELS.

Work-related social support modulates effects of early life stress on limbic reactivity during stress.

Early life stress (ELS) affects stress- reactivity via limbic brain regions implicated such as hippocampus and amygdala. Social support is a major protective factor against ELS effects, while subjects with ELS experience reportedly perceive less of it in their daily life. The workplace, where most adults spend a substantial amount of time in their daily lives, might serve as a major resource for social support.

Early-Life stress modulates neural networks associated with habitual use of reappraisal.

Recent evidence shows that early life stress (ELS) is associated with altered resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between amygdala and the prefrontal cortex, as well as with maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and negative mood. However, the relation between ELS and maladaptive emotion regulation is not deterministic. Adaptive emotion regulation strategies such as reappraisal can also ensue from experience and learning in adulthood and can prevent negative mood.