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Individual differences in biological stress responses moderate the contribution of early peer victimization to subsequent depressive symptoms

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Abstract

Rationale

Some children who are exposed to early peer victimization become depressed, whereas others are resilient. Understanding individual differences in responses to early adversity, such as victimization, is critical for developing both comprehensive theoretical models and effective interventions.

Objectives

This study examined whether individual differences in biological stress responses (i.e., activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and autonomic nervous system) moderated the contribution of peer victimization to depressive symptoms across a 1-year period.

Methods

Children (N = 132; M age = 9.46 years, SD = 0.33) completed measures of peer victimization and depressive symptoms, and rated their ruminative responses (i.e., persistent thoughts about negative task-related emotion and experiences) to a laboratory-based social challenge task involving two conflict-of-interests situations with an unfamiliar peer. Children’s saliva was collected prior to, and following, participation in the task, and was later assayed for cortisol and alpha amylase [sAA].

Results

Victimization interacted with levels of cortisol measured in anticipation of the task to predict task-related rumination and depressive symptoms 1 year later, adjusting for initial symptoms. Specifically, victimization served as a risk factor for rumination and depressive symptoms in children with heightened but not dampened anticipatory cortisol; yet, heightened anticipatory cortisol was protective against rumination and depressive symptoms in low-victimized children. Victimization also predicted subsequent depressive symptoms in girls with high sAA reactivity across the task.

Conclusions

This study advances contemporary theory and research by implicating individual variation in biological stress responses as one determinant of sensitivity to the mental health effects of early adversity.

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Notes

  1. On average, the time difference between when children were informed about the study and the pre-task sample was about 55 min (SD = 42), with a minimum of 20 min.

  2. Some of these means and bivariate correlations are also reported in a prior manuscript (Rudolph et al. 2010b).

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the families and schools who participated in this study. We are grateful to Jamie Abaied, Monica Agoston, Hannah Banagale, Molly Bartlett, Sarah Kang, Megan Flynn, Nicole Llewelyn, and Niwako Sugimura for their assistance in data collection and management. This research was supported by a University of Illinois Arnold O. Beckman Award and National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH68444 awarded to Karen D. Rudolph.

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Correspondence to Karen D. Rudolph.

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In the interest of full disclosure, Douglas A. Granger is the founder and president of Salimetrics LLC (State College, PA).

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Rudolph, K.D., Troop-Gordon, W. & Granger, D.A. Individual differences in biological stress responses moderate the contribution of early peer victimization to subsequent depressive symptoms. Psychopharmacology 214, 209–219 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-1879-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-1879-7

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