Early family life adversity has been linked with negative physical and
psychological health consequences in adulthood, possibly due to
alterations in neuroendocrine activity. Young adults from families
characterized by parental loss (N = 45) and control participants
(N = 43) completed self-report measures of prior abuse and family
conflict, and performed a stressful speech task designed to elicit
neuroendocrine responses. Higher reported abuse and conflict were
associated with increased cortisol for the loss group, but were unrelated
to cortisol in the control group. Results indicate alterations in
neuroendocrine functioning associated with early parental loss, which are
moderated by the quality of the family environment.This research was supported by Grant 0130024N (to P.I.L.) from
the American Heart Association. We are grateful for the research
assistance of Jessica Tartaro and Anna Rodriguez.