The cost of chronic stress in childhood: understanding and applying the concept of allostatic load.

This article explores the concept of allostatic load and its utility as an integrative framework for thinking about the impact of chronic stress on children and adolescents. Allostatic load refers to the failure or exhaustion of normal physiologic processes that occurs in response to severe, frequent, or chronic stressors. This persistent physiologic dysregulation may lead to secondary health problems such as immunosuppression, obesity, atherosclerosis, and hypertension.