Annual Research Review: Early adversity, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, and child psychopathology

Abstract

Background: Research on early adversity, stress biology, and child development has grown exponentially in recent years.

Findings: We review the current evidence for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis as a stress-mediating mechanism between various forms of childhood adversity and psychopathology. We begin with a review of the neurobiology of the axis and evidence for relations between early adversity-HPA axis activity and HPA axis activity-psychopathology, as well as discuss the role of regulatory mechanisms and sensitive periods in development.

Conclusions: We call attention to critical gaps in the literature to highlight next steps in this research including focus on developmental timing, sex differences, stress buffering, and epigenetic regulation. A better understanding of individual differences in the adversity-HPA axis-psychopathology associations will require continued work addressing how multiple biological and behavioral systems work in concert to shape development.

Keywords: Early adversity; hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis; psychopathology.