The effect of cognitive reappraisal and early-life maternal care on neuroendocrine stress responses.

Early-life adversity (ELA) is related to profound dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, reflected in both, blunted or exaggerated cortisol stress responses in adulthood. Emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal might contribute to this inconsistent finding. Here, we investigate an interaction of early-life maternal care (MC), where low MC represents a form of ELA, and instructed emotion regulation on cortisol responses to acute stress. Ninety-three healthy young women were assigned to a low (n = 33) or high (n = 60) MC group, based on self-reported early-life MC. In the laboratory, participants received regulation instructions, asking to cognitively reappraise (reappraisal group, n = 45) or to focus on senses (control group, n = 48) during subsequent stress exposure, induced by the Trier Social Stress Test. Salivary cortisol and subjective stress levels were measured repeatedly throughout the experiment. Multilevel model analyses confirmed a MC by emotion regulation interaction effect on cortisol trajectories, while controlling for hormonal status. Individuals with low MC in the control compared with the reappraisal group showed increased cortisol responses; individuals with high MC did not differ. These results highlight the significance of emotion regulation for HPA axis stress regulation following ELA exposure. They provide methodological and health implications, indicating emotion regulation as a promising target of treatment interventions for individuals with a history of ELA.

Increased empathic distress in adults is associated with higher levels of childhood maltreatment.

While many studies investigated basic facets of empathy, less is known about the association with early life adversity (ELA). To investigate a possible association of empathy with ELA, we assessed self-reported ELA, using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) for mother and father, and empathy, using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), in a sample of N = 228 (83% female, agemean = 30.51 ± 9.88 years, agerange = 18-60). Further, we measured willingness to donate a certain percentage of study compensation to a charity as an index of prosocial behavior. In line with our hypotheses that stated a positive association of empathy with ELA, increased levels of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect were positively correlated with personal distress in response to others' suffering. Likewise, higher parental overprotection and lower parental care were related to higher personal distress. Furthermore, while participants with higher levels of ELA tended to donate more money on a merely descriptive level, only higher levels of sexual abuse were significantly related to larger donations after correction for multiple statistical tests. Other facets of the IRI (empathic concern, perspective taking and fantasy) were not related to any other ELA measure. This suggests ELA only affects levels of personal distress.