Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T07:48:13.279Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environmental influence of problematic social relationships on adolescents’ daily cortisol secretion: a monozygotic twin-difference study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2016

M. Brendgen ,
I. Ouellet-Morin ,
S. J. Lupien ,
F. Vitaro ,
G. Dionne  and
M. Boivin
M. Brendgen*
Affiliation:
University of Quebec at Montreal and Ste-Justine Hospital Research Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
I. Ouellet-Morin
Affiliation:
University of Montreal and Montreal Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
S. J. Lupien
Affiliation:
University of Montreal and Montreal Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
F. Vitaro
Affiliation:
University of Montreal and Ste-Justine Hospital Research Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
G. Dionne
Affiliation:
Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
M. Boivin
Affiliation:
Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russian Federation
*
* Address for correspondence: M. Brendgen, Ph.D., University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Email: Brendgen.Mara@uqam.ca)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

This study investigated the potential environmental effects of peer victimization and the quality of relationships with parents and friends on diurnal cortisol secretion in mid-adolescence.

Method

This study used the monozygotic (MZ) twin-difference design to control for genetic effects and thus estimate the unique environmental influences on diurnal cortisol. Participants were 136 MZ twin pairs (74 female pairs) for whom cortisol was assessed four times per day over four collection days grouped in a 2-week period in grade 8 (mean age = 14.07 years). Participants also provided self-reports of peer victimization from grade 4 to grade 8 and of the relationship quality with the mother, father and best friend in grade 8.

Results

The expected pattern of diurnal cortisol secretion was observed, with high levels at awakening followed by an increase 30 min later and a progressive decrease subsequently. Controlling for a host of confounders, only within-twin pair differences in peer victimization and a problematic relationship with the mother were significantly linked to twin differences in diurnal cortisol secretion. Specifically, whereas a more problematic mother–child relationship was associated with morning cortisol secretion, peer victimization was linked to cortisol secretion later in the day (diurnal slope).

Conclusions

Controlling for genetic influences and other confounders, stressful relationships with peers and the mother exert unique and time-specific environmental influences on the pattern of diurnal cortisol secretion in mid-adolescence.

Keywords

Adolescencediurnal cortisolmonozygotic twin differencespeer victimizationsocial relationships
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , February 2017 , pp. 460 - 470
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adam, EK, Gunnar, MR (2001) Relationship functioning and home and work demands predict individual differences in diurnal cortisol patterns in women. Psychoneuroendocrinology 26, 189–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adler, NE, Epel, ES, Castellazzo, G, Ickovics, JR (2000). Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: preliminary data in healthy, white women. Health Psychology 19, 586–592.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bartels, M, de Geus, EC, Kirschbaum, C, Sluyter, F, Boomsma, D (2003). Heritability of daytime cortisol levels in children. Behavior Genetics 33, 421–433.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beran, T (2009). Correlates of peer victimization and achievement: an exploratory model. Psychology in the Schools 46, 348–361.Google Scholar
Boivin, M, Brendgen, M, Dionne, G, Dubois, L, Pérusse, D, Robaey, P, Tremblay, RE, Vitaro, F (2013 a). The Quebec Newborn Twin Study into adolescence: 15 years later. Twin Research and Human Genetics 16, 64–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boivin, M, Brendgen, M, Vitaro, F, Dionne, G, Girard, A, Pérusse, D, Tremblay, RE (2013 b). Strong genetic contribution to peer relationship difficulties at school entry: findings from a longitudinal twin study. Child Development 84, 1098–1114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Booth, A, Granger, DA, Shirtcliff, EA (2008). Sex- and age-related differences in the association between social relationship quality and trait levels of salivary cortisol. Journal of Research on Adolescence 18, 239–260.Google Scholar
Bosch, NM, Riese, H, Reijneveld, SA, Bakker, MP, Verhulst, FC, Ormel, J, Oldehinkel, AJ (2012). Timing matters: long term effects of adversities from prenatal period up to adolescence on adolescents’ cortisol stress response. The TRAILS study. Psychoneuroendocrinology 37, 1439–1447.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boulton, MJ, Trueman, M, Chau, CAM, Whitehand, C, Amatya, K (1999). Concurrent and longitudinal links between friendship and peer victimization: implications for befriending interventions. Journal of Adolescence 22, 461–466.Google Scholar
Branje, SJT, Hale, WW, Frijns, T, Meeus, WHJ (2010). Longitudinal associations between perceived parent–child relationship quality and depressive symptoms in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 38, 751–763.Google Scholar
Brendgen, M, Boivin, M, Dionne, G, Barker, ED, Vitaro, F, Girard, A, Tremblay, R, Pérusse, D (2011). Gene–environment processes linking aggression, peer victimization, and the teacher–child relationship. Child Development 82, 2021–2036.Google Scholar
Brendgen, M, Girard, A, Vitaro, F, Dionne, G, Tremblay, RE, Pérusse, D, Boivin, M (2014). Gene–environment processes linking peer victimization and physical health problems: a longitudinal twin study. Journal of Pediatric Psychology 39, 96–108.Google Scholar
Byrd-Craven, J, Auer, BJ, Granger, DA, Massey, AR (2012). The father–daughter dance: the relationship between father–daughter relationship quality and daughters’ stress response. Journal of Family Psychology 26, 87–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craig, W, Edge, HM (2011). The Health of Canada's Young People: A Mental Health Focus. Public Health Agency of Canada: Ontario.Google Scholar
Craig, WM, Pepler, D, Connolly, J, Henderson, K (2001). Developmental context of peer harassment in early adolescence: the role of puberty and the peer group. In Peer Harassment in School: The Plight of the Vulnerable and Victimized (ed. Juvonen, J and Graham, S), pp. 242–261. Guilford: New York.Google Scholar
Crick, NR, Grotpeter, JK (1996). Children's treatment by peers: victims of relational and overt aggression. Development and Psychopathology 8, 367–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickerson, SS, Kemeny, ME (2004). Acute stressors and cortisol responses: a theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research. Psychological Bulletin 130, 355–391.Google Scholar
Fries, E, Hesse, J, Hellhammer, J, Hellhammer, DH (2005). A new view on hypocortisolism. Psychoneuroendocrinology 30, 1010–1016.Google Scholar
Furman, W, Buhrmester, D (1992). Age and sex differences in perceptions of networks of personal relationships. Child Development 63, 103–115.Google Scholar
Goodyer, IM, Herbert, J, Altham, PME, Pearson, J, Secher, SM, Shiers, HM (1996). Adrenal secretion during major depression in 8- to 16-year-olds, I. Altered diurnal rhythms in salivary cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) at presentation. Psychological Medicine 26, 245–256.Google Scholar
Gunnar, M, Quevedo, K (2007). The neurobiology of stress and development. Annual Review of Psychology 58, 145–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gustafsson, PA, Gustafsson, PE, Anckarsäter, H, Lichtenstein, P, Ljung, T, Nelson, N, Larsson, H (2011). Heritability of cortisol regulation in children. Twin Research and Human Genetics 14, 553–561.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hostinar, CE, Gunnar, MR (2013). Future directions in the study of social relationships as regulators of the HPA axis across development. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 42, 564–575.Google Scholar
Jacobs, N, Myin-Germeys, I, Derom, C, Delespaul, P, van Os, J, Nicolson, NA (2007). A momentary assessment study of the relationship between affective and adrenocortical stress responses in daily life. Biological Psychology 74, 60–66.Google Scholar
Jaffee, SR, Price, TS (2007). Gene–environment correlations: a review of the evidence and implications for prevention of mental illness. Molecular Psychiatry 12, 432–442.Google Scholar
Janssen, I, Craig, WM, Boyce, WF, Pickett, F (2004). Associations between overweight and obesity with bullying behaviors in school-aged children. Pediatrics 113, 1187–1194.Google Scholar
Jessop, DS, Turner-Cobb, JM (2008). Measurement and meaning of salivary cortisol: a focus on health and disease in children. Stress 11, 1–14.Google Scholar
Kaprio, J, Rimpelä, A, Winter, T, Viken, RJ, Rimpelä, M, Rose, RJ (1995). Common genetic influences on BMI and age at menarche. Human Biology 67, 739–753.Google Scholar
Kiess, W, Meidert, A, Dressendorfer, RA, Schriever, K, Kessler, U, Kounig, A, Schwarz, HP, Strasburger, CJ (1995). Salivary cortisol levels throughout childhood and adolescence: relation with age, pubertal stage, and weight. Pediatric Research 37, 502–506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knack, JM, Jensen-Campbell, LA, Baum, A (2011). Worse than sticks and stones? Bullying is associated with altered HPA axis functioning and poorer health. Brain and Cognition 77, 183–190.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M (1992). Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) Manual. Multi-Health Systems: North Tonawanda, NY.Google Scholar
Kraemer, HC, Giese-Davis, J, Yutsis, M, O'Hara, R, Neri, E, Gallagher-Thompson, D, Taylor, CB, Spiegel, D (2006). Design decisions to optimize reliability of daytime cortisol slopes in an older population. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 14, 325–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kudielka, BM, Broderick, JE, Kirschbaum, C (2003). Compliance with saliva sampling protocols: electronic monitoring reveals invalid cortisol profiles in noncompliant subjects. Psychosomatic Medicine 65, 313–319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laursen, B, DeLay, D, Adams, RE (2010). Trajectories of perceived support in mother–adolescent relationships: the poor (quality) get poorer. Developmental Psychology 46, 1792–1798.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lupien, SJ, McEwen, BS, Gunnar, MR, Heim, C (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nature Reviews. Neuroscience 10, 434–445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lytton, H, Gallagher, L (2005). Parenting twins and the genetics of parenting. In Handbook of Parenting (ed. Bornstein, MH), pp. 227–253. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.Google Scholar
McGue, M, Elkins, I, Walden, B, Iacono, WG (2005). Perceptions of the parent–adolescent relationship: a longitudinal investigation. Developmental Psychology 41, 971–984.Google Scholar
Miller, GE, Chen, E, Zhou, ES (2007). If it goes up, must it come down? Chronic stress and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis in humans. Psychological Bulletin 133, 25–45.Google Scholar
Neale, MC (2009). Biometrical models in behavioral genetics. In Handbook of Behavior Genetics (ed. Kim, Y-K), pp. 15–33. Springer: New York.Google Scholar
Nicolson, NA (2008) Measurement of cortisol. In Handbook of Physiological Research Methods in Health Psychology (ed. Luecken, LJ and Gallo, LC), pp. 37–74. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.Google Scholar
Ouellet-Morin, I, Brendgen, M, Girard, A, Lupien, SJ, Dionne, G, Vitaro, F, Boivin, M (2016). Evidence of a unique and common genetic etiology between the CAR and the remaining part of the diurnal cycle: a study of 13 year-old twins. Psychoneuroendocrinology 66, 91–100.Google Scholar
Pennebaker, JW (1982). The Psychology of Physical Symptoms. Springer-Verlag: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petersen, AC, Crockett, L, Richards, M, Boxer, A (1987). A self-report measure of pubertal status: reliability, validity, and initial norms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 17, 117–133.Google Scholar
Prinstein, MJ, Borelli, JL, Cheah, CSL, Simon, VA, Aikins, JW (2005). Adolescent girls’ interpersonal vulnerability to depressive symptoms: a longitudinal examination of reassurance-seeking and peer relationships. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 114, 676–688.Google Scholar
Pruessner, M, Béchard-Evans, L, Boekestyn, L, Iyer, SN, Pruessner, JC, Malla, AK (2013). Attenuated cortisol response to acute psychosocial stress in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis. Schizophrenia Research 146, 79–86.Google Scholar
Reijntjes, A, Kamphuis, JH, Prinzie, P, Telch, MJ (2010). Peer victimization and internalizing problems in children: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Child Abuse and Neglect 34, 244–252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spitz, E, Carlier, M, Vacher-Lavenu, M-C, Reed, T, Moutier, R, Busnel, M-C, Roubertoux, P (1996). Long-term effect of prenatal heterogeneity among monozygotes. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive 15, 283–308.Google Scholar
Steinberg, L (1987). Impact of puberty on family relations: effects of pubertal status and pubertal timing. Developmental Psychology 23, 451–460.Google Scholar
Stone, AA, Schwartz, JE, Smyth, J, Kirschbaum, C, Cohen, S, Hellhammer, D, Grossman, S (2001). Individual differences in the diurnal cycle of salivary free cortisol: a replication of flattened cycles for some individuals. Psychoneuroendocrinology 26, 295–306.Google Scholar
Tanner, JM (1962). Growth at Adolescence. Thomas: Springfield, IL.Google Scholar
Thorpe, K (2003). Twins and friendship. Twin Research 6, 532–535.Google Scholar
Tops, M, Riese, H, Oldehinkel, AJ, Rijsdijk, FV, Ormel, J (2008). Rejection sensitivity relates to hypocortisolism and depressed mood state in young women. Psychoneuroendocrinology 33, 551–559.Google Scholar
Vaillancourt, T, Duku, E, Decatanzaro, D, Macmillan, H, Muir, C, Schmidt, LA (2008). Variation in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity among bullied and non-bullied children. Aggressive Behavior 34, 294–305.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van den Bergh, BRH, Van Calster, B (2009). Diurnal cortisol profiles and evening cortisol in post-pubertal adolescents scoring high on the Children's Depression Inventory. Psychoneuroendocrinology 34, 791–794.Google Scholar
Vitaro, F, Brendgen, M, Arseneault, L (2009). The discordant MZ-twin method: one step closer to the holy grail of causality. International Journal of Behavioral Development 33, 376–382.Google Scholar
Wüst, S, Entringer, S, Federenko, IS, Schlotz, W, Hellhammer, DH (2005). Birth weight is associated with salivary cortisol responses to psychosocial stress in adult life. Psychoneuroendocrinology 30, 591–598.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed