Hyper- and hypo-cortisol functioning in post-institutionalized adolescents: The role of severity of neglect and context.

Understanding the developmental timing of stress exposure may help inform mechanisms underlying how stress "gets under the skin" and influences the stress response system, including the HPA axis and its end-product cortisol. Early adversity may be particularly detrimental; however, it is difficult to disentangle the timing of adversity from its cumulative burden because there is typically high continuity between early and later adversity. Moreover, context and the different stressors inherent in various contexts may interact with stress exposure to influence psychophysiological functioning. To address this issue, we examined adolescents who had been reared in institutions and suffered neglect or social deprivation ranging from approximately six months to several years of life prior to adoption into U.S. homes. We focused on the stress hormone cortisol because it can reflect continued regulatory problems in youth, even years after youth transition to typical homes. We examined cortisol morning levels and diurnal rhythms across multiple contexts (home, school, lab) on 5 separate days in 41 post-institutionalized youth and 78 comparison youth. Employing hierarchical linear modeling, we found that when assessed in the lab, post-institutionalized (PI) youth displayed lower morning cortisol levels and flatter diurnal slopes than the control youth. Yet at home, PI youth displayed higher morning cortisol levels than the control youth. In addition to group effects, we also examined severity of early adversity and found that PI kids who had endured the most severe early adversity displayed lower home cortisol levels than controls. No significant predictors of diurnal cortisol on school days were identified. These data fit with the notion that the HPA axis is impacted by early adversity, even years after adoption, and with emerging theories that postulate that stress physiology calibrates within youth to help them adapt to their context. In the case of severe early adversity, the cost of such adaptation may not be desirable. It also highlights the important role of context when assessing HPA axis activity, particularly in post-institutionalized youth.

Child Maltreatment and Social Connectedness Among Formerly Institutionalized Females: Links With Depression.

This study aimed to examine the effects of child maltreatment subtypes (physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence) and cumulative child maltreatment on depressive symptoms in adulthood, and examine the protective effects of social connectedness in a sample of formerly institutionalized females. The sample consisted of 124 females who were institutionalized in a Dutch juvenile justice institution during adolescence and were followed-up when they were on average 32 years old. Information about child maltreatment was extracted from treatment files. Retrospective data on social connectedness in young adulthood were established during interviews using a Life History Calendar. Relationship quality at follow-up was assessed with items derived from the Rochester Youth Development Study. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Scale for Depression (CES-D) was used to measure depressive symptoms in adulthood. Results showed that 85.5% of the females experienced child maltreatment, and co-occurrence of subtypes was high. Cumulative child maltreatment increased the risk of depression in adulthood. Furthermore, social connectedness, that is, more employment over time and the quality of the romantic relationship at follow-up, protected against the development of depression. However, social connectedness did not buffer the effect of maltreatment on depression. Our findings indicate that treatment of these girls should focus on improving the social-emotional development to promote positive interpersonal relationships and include educational and vocational components to guide these girls toward increased opportunities on the labor market.

Duration of early adversity and structural brain development in post-institutionalized adolescents.

For children reared in institutions for orphaned or abandoned children, multiple aspects of the early environment deviate from species-typical experiences, which may lead to alterations in neurobehavioral development. Although the effects of early deprivation and early life stress have been studied extensively in animal models, less is known about implications for human brain development. This structural neuroimaging study examined the long-term neural correlates of early adverse rearing environments in a large sample of 12-14 year old children (N = 110) who were internationally adopted from institutional care as young children (median age at adoption = 12 months) relative to a same age, comparison group reared with their biological families in the United States. History of institutional rearing was associated with broad changes in cortical volume even after controlling for variability in head size. Results suggested that prefrontal cortex was especially susceptible to early adversity, with significant reductions in volume (driven primarily by differences in surface area rather than cortical thickness) in post-institutionalized youth. Hippocampal volumes showed an association with duration of institutional care, with later-adopted children showing the smallest volumes relative to non-adopted controls. Larger amygdala volumes were not detected in this sample of post-institutionalized children. These data suggest that this temporally discrete period of early deprivation is associated with persisting alterations in brain morphology even years after exposure. Furthermore, these alterations are not completely ameliorated by subsequent environmental enrichment by early adolescence.

Assessing the risk of imminent aggression in institutionalized youth offenders using the dynamic appraisal of situational aggression.

Aggressive behavior in incarcerated youth presents a significant problem for staff, co-residents and the functioning of the institution. This study aimed to examine the predictive validity of an empirically validated measure, designed to appraise the risk of imminent aggression within institutionalized adult psychiatric patients (Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression; DASA), in adolescent male and female offenders. The supervising staff members on the residential units rated the DASA daily for 49 youth (29 males and 20 females) over two months. The results showed that DASA total scores significantly predicted institutional aggression in the following 24 and 48 hrs; however, the predictive validity of the DASA for institutional aggression was, at best, modest. Further analyses on male and female subsamples revealed that the DASA total scores only predicted imminent institutional aggression in the male subsample. Item analyses showed that negative attitudes, anger when requests are denied, and unwillingness to follow instructions predicted institutional aggression more strongly as compared with other behavioral manifestations of an irritable and unstable mental state as assessed by the DASA.

Jovens de unidades socioeducativas em regime desemiliberdade da Funase, Recife-Pe: vivências e expectativas / Jovenes de instituciones socioeducativas (Funase) en regimen de semi-libertad, Recife-Pe: sus experiencias y expectativas / Young offenders serving a semi open sentence at a socio educational facility (Funase) in Recife-Pe: their experiences and expectations

Trata-se de um estudo descritivo-exploratório de abordagem qualitativa cujo objetivo foi investigar a vivência de jovensque cumprem medida socioeducativa de semiliberdade, considerando os fatores socioeconômicos, culturais e afetivosque concorrem para sua inserção na criminalidade, assim como identificar suas expectativas em relação ao futuro. Foiaplicado um roteiro de entrevista com 30 adolescentes do sexo masculino, nos meses de julho a setembro de 2009. Osdepoimentos foram gravados, transcritos e analisados mediante o Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo, sendo decompostosem oito ideias centrais: vivência dos adolescentes na escola; relacionamento intrafamiliar dos adolescentes; situaçãosocioeconômica dos familiares dos adolescentes; vivência dos adolescentes como moradores de rua; vivência dosadolescentes com o uso de drogas; familiares dos adolescentes que cometeram atos infracionais; vivência delituosados adolescentes; e desejo de mudanças e expectativas dos adolescentes em relação ao futuro. Evidenciou-se que adesestrutura familiar, a precarização nas condições de vida, a exposição às influências nocivas do ambiente da rua, aausência de suporte escolar de qualidade, a ausência de adultos que sejam referências positivas e a negação da vivênciada etapa da infância concorrem para o crescente envolvimento de jovens com atividades delituosas. A vivência dos jovensem situação de criminalidade desencadeia atitudes discriminatórias e preconceituosas pela sociedade, contribuindopara as dificuldades de estabelecer uma rede de apoio propícia a ações para a (re)inserção social desses indivíduos.

This is a descriptive exploratory study with a qualitative approach that aimed to investigate the experience of young of fenders who serve a rehabilitation sentence in a semi open system. This research considers the socio-economic, cultural and emotional processes that contribute to the adolescent engaging into crime, intend to identify as well their expectations for the future. We interviewed 30 male youths from July to September 2009. Their statements were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using the Collective Subject Discourse. Those accounts were divided into eight main ideas: the adolescent’s experience at school, their intra-familial relationships, the family members’ socioeconomic status, their homeless experience,drug use, the families of adolescents who have committed crimes, criminal experience of adolescents, the desire for change and expectations about the future. The study revealed that a disjointed family, the precarious living conditions,the exposure to damaging influences on the streets, a deficient school system, the nonexistence of a positive adult role model and the youngsters’ lack of a childhood experience contributes to their increased involvement young in criminal activities. The young offenders experience in crime generates social discrimination and prejudice and contributes to the difficulty in establishing a support network favorable to the social inclusion of these individuals.

Se trata de un estudio exploratorio descriptivo de enfoque cualitativo cuyo objeto fue analizar la experiencia de jóvenesque cumplen medidas socioeducativas en régimen de semilibertad. Se consideraron los factores socioeconómicos,culturales y afectivos que contribuyen a su inserción en la criminalidad y se buscó identificar las expectativas de dichos jóvenes en relación al futuro. Se realizaron entrevistas con 30 adolescentes varones entre julio y septiembrede 2009. Las declaraciones fueron gravadas, transcritas y analizadas mediante el Discurso del Sujeto Colectivo. Se consideraron 8 ideas centrales: experiencia de los adolescentes en la escuela, relación intrafamiliar del adolescente,situación socioeconómica de los familiares, experiencia de los adolescentes como personas sin hogar, experiencia de los adolescentes con el uso de drogas, familiares de los adolescentes que cometieron delitos, experiencia delictiva de los adolescentes y anhelo de cambiar y expectativas en relación al futuro. Fue evidenciado que la desestructurafamiliar, la precarización en las condiciones de vida, la exposición a las influencias nocivas del ambiente de la calle, la ausencia de apoyo escolar de calidad, la ausencia de adultos como referentes positivos y la negación de la experiencia de la etapa de la infancia contribuyen a la creciente implicación de jóvenes en actividades delictivas. La experiencia de los jóvenes en situación de criminalidad desencadena actitudes discriminatorias y de prejuicio por parte de la sociedad, aumentando las dificultades de establecer una red de apoyo propicia para acciones de (re) inserción social de estos individuos.