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Abstract
Maltreatment represents a major stressor in the lives of many youth. Given the known
effects of stress exposure on subsequent functioning of biological stress response
systems, researchers have been interested in the effects of maltreatment on the functioning
of these systems. Experimental studies reveal that previous exposure to stress affects
the symmetry between components of the physiological stress response to subsequent
stress. The present study examined asymmetry between salivary alpha amylase (sAA),
a sympathetic indicator, and cortisol reactivity to a social stressor among maltreated
and comparison youth age 9 to 14 years. Consistent with earlier studies suggesting
that stress leads to asymmetry between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic
nervous system activity, we expected that maltreated youth would exhibit greater sAA-cortisol
asymmetry than would comparison youth.
Forty-seven maltreated and 37 comparison youth visited the laboratory and engaged
in a social stress protocol. We collected 2 saliva samples before the stressor and
4 after, at 0 min post-stress and every 10 min for 30 min.
Maltreatment status moderated the relation between sAA and cortisol activity in response
to the stressor. Comparison youth showed significant links between the sAA and cortisol
responses; maltreated youth had no significant associations between responses in the
two biomarkers.
The data were consistent with sAA-cortisol asymmetry among maltreated youth. Further
research should seek to replicate this finding and investigate its implication for
developmental trajectories.