Hair steroid before and after COVID-19 in preschoolers: the moderation of family characteristics.

COVID-19 Family functioning HPA-axis Hair steroids Preschoolers

Journal

Psychoneuroendocrinology
ISSN: 1873-3360
Titre abrégé: Psychoneuroendocrinology
Pays: England
ID NLM: 7612148

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
08 May 2024
Historique:
received: 30 01 2024
revised: 01 05 2024
accepted: 05 05 2024
medline: 12 5 2024
pubmed: 12 5 2024
entrez: 11 5 2024
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

Frequent or prolonged exposure to stressors may jeopardize young children's health. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with disruptions in daily routines and social isolation resulting from public health preventive measures, have raised concerns about its potential impact on children' experienced stress, particularly for young children and vulnerable families. However, whether the pandemic was accompanied by changes in physiological stress remains unknown as perceived stress is not a good proxy of physiological stress. This study examined if preschoolers showed increasing hair steroid concentrations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether family characteristics may have exacerbated or buffered these changes. 136 preschoolers (2-4 years) provided hair for steroid measurement (cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), cortisone, cortisol-to-DHEA ratio, cortisol-to-cortisone ratio) in October-November 2019 (T0) and in July-August 2020 (T1). A 2-centimeter hair segment was analyzed, reflecting steroid production over the two months leading up to collection. Family income, conflict resolution and lack of cohesion, as well as parents' COVID-19 stress were reported by parents. Linear mixed models for repeated measures and Bayes factors were used. No significant changes were noted from before to after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for most hair steroids. However, a moderating role of family conflict resolution was noted. Children living with parents with a better ability to resolve conflicts had lower levels of DHEA compared to those who had more difficulty managing conflicts. Additionally, lower levels of family cohesion and income were linked to some steroids, especially DHEA, suggesting that these factors may relate to children's physiological stress. Finally, boys had higher DHEA levels than girls. Our findings suggest that stress biomarkers were comparable from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. This observation holds true despite the pandemic being perceived by many as a novel, unpredictable, and potentially threatening event. Findings further suggest that family characteristics are associated with hair steroid, especially DHEA, which deserves further investigation.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Frequent or prolonged exposure to stressors may jeopardize young children's health. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with disruptions in daily routines and social isolation resulting from public health preventive measures, have raised concerns about its potential impact on children' experienced stress, particularly for young children and vulnerable families. However, whether the pandemic was accompanied by changes in physiological stress remains unknown as perceived stress is not a good proxy of physiological stress. This study examined if preschoolers showed increasing hair steroid concentrations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether family characteristics may have exacerbated or buffered these changes.
METHODS METHODS
136 preschoolers (2-4 years) provided hair for steroid measurement (cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), cortisone, cortisol-to-DHEA ratio, cortisol-to-cortisone ratio) in October-November 2019 (T0) and in July-August 2020 (T1). A 2-centimeter hair segment was analyzed, reflecting steroid production over the two months leading up to collection. Family income, conflict resolution and lack of cohesion, as well as parents' COVID-19 stress were reported by parents. Linear mixed models for repeated measures and Bayes factors were used.
RESULTS RESULTS
No significant changes were noted from before to after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for most hair steroids. However, a moderating role of family conflict resolution was noted. Children living with parents with a better ability to resolve conflicts had lower levels of DHEA compared to those who had more difficulty managing conflicts. Additionally, lower levels of family cohesion and income were linked to some steroids, especially DHEA, suggesting that these factors may relate to children's physiological stress. Finally, boys had higher DHEA levels than girls.
CONCLUSION CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that stress biomarkers were comparable from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. This observation holds true despite the pandemic being perceived by many as a novel, unpredictable, and potentially threatening event. Findings further suggest that family characteristics are associated with hair steroid, especially DHEA, which deserves further investigation.

Identifiants

DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107072 PMID: 38733756
pubmed: 38733756
pii: S0306-4530(24)00116-1
doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107072
pii:
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

107072

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Declaration of competing interest All authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Auteurs

Éloise Berger (É)

School of Criminology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada; Research Center of the Montreal Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada.

Marie-Pier Larose (MP)

INVEST Flagship Research Center/Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

France Capuano (F)

Department of Education and Specialized Training, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, Canada.

Marie-Josée Letarte (MJ)

Department of Psychoeducation, Sherbrooke University, Sherbrooke, Canada.

Marie-Claude Geoffroy (MC)

Department of Psychiatry McGill University, Montreal, Canada; McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, Montreal, Canada.

Sonia Lupien (S)

Research Center of the Montreal Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada; Centre for Studies on Human Stress, Department Psychiatry, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.

Mara Brendgen (M)

Department of Psychology, University of Quebec at Montreal, Montreal, Canada; Ste Justine Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, Canada.

Michel Boivin (M)

School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada.

Frank Vitaro (F)

School of Psychoeducation, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada; Research Group on Child Maladjustment, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.

Richard Tremblay (R)

Department of Pediatrics and Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.

Benoît Masse (B)

School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.

Sylvana Côté (S)

Research Group on Child Maladjustment, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada; School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada.

Isabelle Ouellet-Morin (I)

School of Criminology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada; Research Center of the Montreal Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada. Electronic address: isabelle.ouellet-morin@umontreal.ca.

Classifications MeSH