Psychoneuroendocrinology最新文献

{"title":"How colorism gets “under the skin”: The role of ethnic-racial discrimination and diurnal cortisol in the physical health of African American and Latino young adults","authors":"Antoinette M. Landor ,&nbsp;Katharine H. Zeiders ,&nbsp;Alaysia M. Brown ,&nbsp;Kayla M. Osman ,&nbsp;Evelyn D. Sarsar ,&nbsp;Jasmine Godwin","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107676","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107676","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Empirical research has identified ethnic-racial discrimination as a fundamental driver of health disparities and a key contributor to poorer physical health outcomes among African American and Latino populations. Colorism–bias that generally privileges lighter skin over darker skin–has also been linked to adverse health outcomes; however, little to no research has explored how the intersection of colorism and racism “gets under the skin” to influence physical health, particularly among young adults<strong>.</strong> Grounded in an intersectional framework<strong>,</strong> the present study recognizes that multiple systems of oppression—namely racism and colorism—do not operate independently but intersect to uniquely impact individuals based on their racialized and phenotypic identities. Using a sample of African American and Latino young adults, the current study examined whether skin tone may be indirectly associated with poorer physical health due to its association with ethnic-racial discrimination and diurnal cortisol patterns. Findings indicated that darker skin young adults experienced more ethnic-racial discrimination, which in turn, was associated with flatter diurnal cortisol slopes. Flatter diurnal slopes were also marginally related to poorer self-reported health over time. Taken together, these results underscore the importance of applying an intersectional lens to understanding health disparities<strong>,</strong> highlighting how the interwoven impacts of colorism and racism function as sociocultural stressors that become biologically embedded, ultimately influencing the physical health of racially and ethnically marginalized young adults.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107676"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145621508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"First-generation college student status and minoritized race and ethnicity: Intersectional predictors of life stress exposure and lab-based cortisol reactivity","authors":"Darha M. Ponder ,&nbsp;Suzanne Vrshek-Schallhorn ,&nbsp;Chelsea B. Crayton ,&nbsp;Alexandra M. Cupito ,&nbsp;Gabriela Livas ,&nbsp;Michaeline Jensen ,&nbsp;Anne Fletcher","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107677","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107677","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Theory and evidence link first-generation college students and minoritized race/ethnicity with heightened life stress exposure and potentially alterations in biological stress reactivity as adversity gets “under the skin,” but more evidence and statistical tools are needed to understand how multiple minoritized identities influence health. In 171 emerging adults, we tested hypotheses that these intersecting identities increase life stress exposure, measured with the UCLA Life Stress Interview; we also probe properties of four statistical approaches to modeling intersectional identities’ influence. In a subset of <em>n</em> = 150, growth curve modeling tested the hypothesis that more minoritized identities intensify discrimination’s effect on blunted cortisol reactivity to an explicit negative evaluative variant (<em>n</em> = 77) versus a control variant (<em>n</em> = 73) of the Trier Social Stress Test. Results link both minoritized identities with elevated exposure to non-interpersonal chronic stress (<em>t</em> = 3.85, <em>p</em> &lt; .001), and minoritized race/ethnicity with elevated interpersonal chronic stress (<em>t</em> = 2.743, <em>p</em> = .007). Of the statistical approaches examined, an identity cumulative risk score demonstrated high sensitivity, consistent with developmental research. Finally, cumulative minoritized identities moderated the relationship between self-reported discrimination and cortisol reactivity to negative evaluative lab-based stress (<em>t</em> = 2.12, <em>p</em> = 0.035), driven by a significant discrimination and cortisol blunting association in those with both minoritized identities. Taken together, we provide evidence to support modeling intersectional identities as a cumulative risk score with post-hoc tests, and evidence that first-generation student status and minoritized race/ethnicity cumulatively heighten stress exposure and intensify the effect of discrimination on a maladaptive marker of stress-responding.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107677"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145527973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adverse childhood experiences and neuroendocrine biomarker changes in Mexican preschool children","authors":"I. Martín-Estal ,&nbsp;D. León Rojas ,&nbsp;J.L. Díaz-Gómez,&nbsp;A.J. del Rio-Pascual,&nbsp;J. Rodríguez-de-Ita,&nbsp;F. Castorena-Torres","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107685","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107685","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are highly prevalent and associated to severe health outcomes in the Mexican adult population. However, their biological correlates during early childhood remain poorly understood. We conducted a cross-sectional study in Mexican children, aged 3–5 years, to examine the association between neuroendocrine biomarker hair levels related to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (cortisol, cortisone, and DHEA) and the number and type of ACEs in this population. Additionally, we analyzed the effect of sociodemographic characteristics of the population (age, sex and urbanity stratum). The study included 237 children and 226 caregivers from the national ACESMEXICO cohort. Caregivers provided self-reported sociodemographic and child-related information, and hair samples from 178 children were analyzed for neuroendocrine biomarkers. The Pediatric ACEs and Related Life-Events Screener (PEARLS) was used to gather ACEs data. Linear regression models adjusted by age, sex and urbanity stratum, tested associations between cumulative ACEs categories and individual ACEs, and log-tansformed steroid levels. Children with two ACEs had higher cortisone levels compared with those with none, whereas the ≥ 3 ACEs group showed a marginal increase. These findings suggest a threshold response. Children with parents who abused drugs showed higher cortisol hair levels even when controlling for total ACEs. Elevated DHEA levels were associated with economic difficulties, rural living, younger age, and male sex, independent of the number of ACEs. These findings provide novel evidence that associates ACEs with neuroendocrine alterations in Mexican preschool children, highlighting rural–urban disparities. Exposure to adversities such as parental substance use significantly altered stress-related hormone levels, particularly among girls, emphasizing the need for gender- and context-sensitive approaches to childhood adversity interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107685"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145557439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The mediating role of loneliness between psychosocial and physiological well-being in older adults","authors":"Rainbow Tin Hung Ho ,&nbsp;Temmy Lee Ting Lo ,&nbsp;Ted Chun Tat Fong ,&nbsp;Da Jiang ,&nbsp;Jojo Yan Yan Kwok ,&nbsp;Dannii Yuen-lan Yeung ,&nbsp;Namkee G. Choi ,&nbsp;Lisa M. Warner ,&nbsp;Kee Lee Chou","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107706","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107706","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Loneliness is a risk factor for mental but also physical health concerns in older adults. This study aimed to examine the temporal associations among social relationships, mindfulness, and physiological functioning and the potential mediating role of loneliness.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The present study recruited 141 older adults experiencing loneliness (M_age = 64.1 years, 76 % female) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. Participants completed a questionnaire that assessed loneliness, social network, perceived social support, and mindfulness, and provided six saliva samples for cortisol and C-reactive protein (CRP) over two days at baseline (T0) and 6-month follow-up (T1). Path analysis was conducted to examine the associations of changes in psychosocial and physiological variables via change in loneliness.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The participants showed small to moderate increases in perceived social support and mindfulness and small to moderate decreases in loneliness and pre-lunch cortisol. Greater improvements in social relationships were significantly associated with changes toward steeper diurnal cortisol slopes, indicating a healthier cortisol pattern. Greater improvements in mindfulness and social relationships were indirectly associated with greater reductions in CRP via a decrease in loneliness.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The present findings provided empirical support for temporal associations between social relationships, mindfulness, and physiological markers, with loneliness acting as a mediator, in older adults. The results suggest that interventions targeting loneliness, while promoting social engagement and mindfulness, could improve both psychosocial and physiological well-being in this population.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107706"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145577723","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Demonstrating the potential of untargeted hair proteomics for personalized biomarkers in stress-associated disorders","authors":"Maurizio Sicorello ,&nbsp;Jeanne-Carla Sprenger ,&nbsp;Lisa M Störkel ,&nbsp;Bettina Sarg ,&nbsp;Leopold Kremser ,&nbsp;Christian Schmahl ,&nbsp;Inga Niedtfeld ,&nbsp;Alexander Karabatsiakis","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107684","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107684","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biomarker research in psychopathology increasingly employs high-dimensional <em>Omics</em> approaches. Yet, proteomics based on human hair remain largely unexplored, despite its potential to efficiently capture stable biological signals accumulated over weeks to months. This study leveraged machine learning to investigate the potential of the hair proteome—all detectable peptides and proteins—as a biomarker source for stress-associated psychopathology. We analyzed protein profiles from hair segments of women with non-suicidal self-injury disorder and healthy controls (<em>N</em> = 68). Of 1114 identified proteins, 611 were sufficiently abundant for analyses. Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis achieved stable 84.4 % cross-validated accuracy for classification of clinical groups (p &lt; .001), outperforming models based on data-derived clusters (60 %), stress-related proteins (73 %), and simulated hair cortisol from meta-analytic effect sizes (53–59 %). Predicted class probabilities strongly correlated with clinical symptoms and well-being (r &gt; .60). Key predictive proteins were linked to pain perception, oxidative stress, and cholesterol homeostasis. Approximately 15 % of proteins differed significantly between groups, with the strongest candidates related to ribosomal function—an emerging target in depression. These findings establish hair proteomics as a promising, non-invasive biomarker source for psychiatric research with potential clinical applications in risk assessment and personalized interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107684"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145577724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intersectional stigma, health behaviors, and allostatic load among sexual and gender diverse people","authors":"Nevena Chuntova ,&nbsp;Inès Ait Abdelmalek ,&nbsp;Karine Lavallée-Rodrigue ,&nbsp;Emma-Rose Thériault ,&nbsp;Ryan Hogan ,&nbsp;Ziad Guenoun ,&nbsp;Jasmine Boulette ,&nbsp;Ahmed Jérome Romain ,&nbsp;L. Zachary DuBois ,&nbsp;Robert-Paul Juster","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107708","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107708","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sexual and gender diverse (SGD) people face significant health disparities linked to chronic stigma exposure. Yet, the biological mechanisms underlying these inequities remain unexplored. This project examines how lifetime intersectional discrimination influences allostatic load (AL) —the cumulative biological 'wear and tear' of chronic stress—and explores the role of health behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, drug use, sleep quality and physical activity) as potential mediators in this pathway. Our team recruited 357 adults separated into 7 subgroups stratified by gender identity and sexual orientation. Blood samples and biometrics were collected from each participant and analysed to create a composite AL index incorporating 16 biomarkers across multiple physiological systems. Psychosocial variables including intersectional discrimination experiences and health behaviors were derived from validated questionnaires. Results show that intersectional discrimination experiences were positively associated with AL after controlling for age, indicating that both major discriminatory events and cumulative daily experiences independently contribute to physiological dysregulation through enacted stigma and discrimination exposure. Additionally, both gender identity and sexual orientation relate to differential AL patterns, with masculine-spectrum people (cisgender and transgender men) and sexual minority men (bisexual and gay men) showing the highest AL levels. Contrary to our hypothesis, health behaviors did not mediate the relationship between discrimination and AL, suggesting that discrimination may exert direct biological effects through stress response systems without requiring negative behavioral pathways. These findings provide further support for recognition of the impacts of structural and social determinants of health among SGD communities and the need for policy changes that protect against structural inequities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107708"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145669623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis stress response to a laboratory-based 10 % CO2 challenge in healthy adults","authors":"Harrison Dickens ,&nbsp;L. Riley Gournay-Berman ,&nbsp;Morgan Hill ,&nbsp;Mikayla D.M. Joslin ,&nbsp;Jamie Walker ,&nbsp;Anastasia Makhanova ,&nbsp;Ellen Leen-Feldner ,&nbsp;Ivan Vargas","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107712","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107712","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Acute stress reactivity has been implicated in a wide range of physical and psychological disorders. Most literature has focused on laboratory paradigms that elicit neuroendocrine responses via socially evaluative stress. While shown to be effective at eliciting stress responses, these socially evaluative paradigms may only tap into a narrow range of stressors. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) inhalation challenges have been shown to reliably elicit panic-relevant symptoms in healthy populations but evidence on the ability to elicit a neuroendocrine response is limited.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The current secondary analysis sought to examine the magnitude of neuroendocrine, sympathetic, and emotional response to a 5-minute, 10 % CO₂-enriched air inhalation task in healthy volunteers. Seventy-five healthy adults (<em>M</em>_<em>age</em> <em>:</em> 27.2, 53.3 % female) completed the laboratory procedure.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Results from mixed effects growth curve models found a significant linear (<em>b</em> = 0.006, <em>df</em> = 367, <em>p</em> &lt; 0.001) and quadratic effect (<em>b</em> = −0.0001, <em>df</em> = 293, <em>p</em> &lt; 0.001) of the challenge on salivary cortisol. The majority of the sample (57.3 %) experienced at least a 50 % increase in salivary cortisol from baseline. Women displayed a more blunted cortisol response than men (<em>b</em> = −0.00007, <em>df</em> = 293, <em>p</em> &lt; 0.001). Hormonal contraceptive users, relative to naturally cycling women, also had a more blunted reactivity slope. Both heart rate and perceived fear also increased significantly in response to the task.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Findings from the current study suggest that the CO₂ protocol employed in the current study can elicit meaningful neuroendocrine, sympathetic, and emotional responses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107712"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145725766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adverse childhood experiences patterns and biological aging in a representative sample of older Americans","authors":"Xiaoyan Zhang ,&nbsp;Natalie Slopen ,&nbsp;Ariel A. Binns ,&nbsp;Adolfo G. Cuevas","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107682","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107682","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common, co-occurring risk factors for poor long-term health. Emerging research links ACEs to accelerated biological aging, yet most studies rely on singular or cumulative indicators and often overlook differences by race, sex, and adversity type, potentially yielding imprecise estimates.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>To identify latent ACEs classes by race and sex using latent class analysis (LCA) and examine their associations with biological aging measured by DNA methylation-based epigenetic clocks.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We analyzed 3586 participants from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative cohort of U.S. older adults. LCA identified ACEs classes based on nine indicators, including physical abuse, household substance use, and socioeconomic adversity. Biological aging was measured using GrimAge, PhenoAge, and DunedinPoAm clocks. Epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) was calculated as residuals of GrimAge/PhenoAge regressed on chronological age.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Latent Low Adversity and Financial Adversity classes were identified among Black and White participants, and among Hispanic participants we identified Parental Low Education and Socioeconomic Adversity classes. Men exhibited higher GrimAge EAA than women across all groups. Among Black and White women, Financial Adversity was associated with elevated GrimAge EAA and a faster DunedinPoAm pace compared to the Low Adversity group. Among Hispanic women, Socioeconomic Adversity was linked to higher PhenoAge EAA and faster DunedinPoAm pace relative to those in the Parental Low Education group.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Women in the adversity classes demonstrated more accelerated biological aging than those in low adversity classes. Findings underscore the value of intersectional, person-centered approaches to understanding adversity’s role in biological aging and the need for targeted health interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107682"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145549945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Protective effects of liver-derived apolipoprotein A1 against heat stress-induced hypothalamic lipid metabolism and blood-brain barrier integrity","authors":"Bin Li ,&nbsp;Ruixi Ming ,&nbsp;Hongzhou Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107691","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107691","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Heat stress (HS), a prevalent occupational and environmental hazard, has increasingly been recognized as a major contributor to multiple physiological disorders. The hypothalamus, a key regulator of thermoregulation and endocrine signaling, is especially susceptible to metabolic and inflammatory disturbances induced by HS. This study investigates the interplay among lipid metabolism, blood–brain barrier (BBB) integrity, and neuroinflammation in the hypothalamus under HS conditions, with a specific focus on apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1) as a potential protective factor. To achieve this, we integrated proteomic and lipidomic analyses with experimental validation in porcine and murine models. Proteomic analysis identified 266 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the hypothalamus following HS, with significant enrichment in lipid metabolism pathways—especially glycerophospholipid (GP) metabolism—in which APOA1 displayed a marked increase. Lipidomic profiling further revealed HS-induced disruptions in phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and cardiolipin (CL) metabolism. Additionally, blood–brain barrier integrity was compromised, as evidenced by increased perivascular IgG extravasation, reduced pericyte coverage, and decreased expression of tight junction proteins ZO-1 and Occludin. HS also triggered pronounced neuroinflammation, characterized by elevated levels of iNOS, GFAP, and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6). Notably, administration of D-4F, an APOA1 mimetic peptide, alleviated blood–brain barrier damage, reduced neuroinflammation, and preserved synaptic integrity, thereby suggesting a neuroprotective role for APOA1 in HS-induced hypothalamic dysfunction. These findings underscore the critical role of lipid metabolism in maintaining hypothalamic homeostasis under HS conditions and position APOA1 as a key regulator with potential therapeutic implications for mitigating HS-related neuroinflammatory and metabolic disturbances.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107691"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145557419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Parent-child salivary cortisol synchrony in early childhood: A systematic review","authors":"Maitri Jain ,&nbsp;Emily Sokol ,&nbsp;Elizabeth Freehling ,&nbsp;Sneha Kamath ,&nbsp;Renée Lajiness-O'Neill ,&nbsp;Angela D. Staples ,&nbsp;Jamie M. Lawler","doi":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107693","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.psyneuen.2025.107693","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Importance</h3><div>Although parent-child cortisol synchrony is essential for the development of children’s socio-emotional development, the research findings on what affects this synchrony are unclear. This lack of clarity makes it difficult to pinpoint the best areas to target when creating interventions to help improve synchrony between parents and their children.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>We aimed to characterize the literature on parent-child cortisol synchrony and how various family-related risks and protective factors were associated with parent-child cortisol synchrony.</div></div><div><h3>Evidence review</h3><div>We searched 4 databases (CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science) on August 25th, 2025. Backward and forward citation searching was also conducted. Eligible articles a) were peer-reviewed articles/theses/dissertations published in the English language, b) assessed children between 6 months and 8 years for diurnal cortisol, and between 0 months and 8 years for cortisol reactivity, c) included majority of children free of neurological, genetic, or major psychiatric disorders and born full-term, d) included parents with a mean age above 18 years, where the majority were free of neurological or genetic disorders, e) collected at least 2 salivary cortisol samples from both parent and child, in either home or lab, f) for cortisol reactivity, collected at least one saliva sample each before and after a challenging task, g) collected 2 saliva samples on the same day for diurnal cortisol, and h) reported any statistical association between parent and child cortisol. We used the Quality Assessment with Diverse Studies Tool for quality analysis.</div></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><div>We identified 33 unique studies, including a total of 5206 participants. All studies were observational, with 7 longitudinal studies. The scarce literature suggested positive child-to-parent synchrony in families without risk factors, but synchrony was absent or reduced in families with risk factors. Protective factors (e.g., parental sensitivity) led to more adaptive synchrony in parent-child dyads.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions and relevance</h3><div>While the existing research suggested that parent-child cortisol synchrony is affected by both family risk and protective factors, too few studies existed to draw strong conclusions. More research is essential to develop better interventions for improving parent-child synchrony.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20836,"journal":{"name":"Psychoneuroendocrinology","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 107693"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145605522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}