cortisol children

Dental caries is a major public health problem and untreated caries has serious consequences for children. Psychosocial factors have multiple consequences, among others on the composition of saliva. Therefore, this study investigated whether stress and various salivary protein levels are associated with dental caries experience in children. The activity of the Matrix Metalloproteinases MMP-8 and MMP-9 and the total proteolytic activity in saliva turned out to be indicators for the caries experience. Salivary Alpha-Amylase seems to be a protector and was a strong indicator for caries experience...

Adverse early life experiences, such as child maltreatment, shapes hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. The impact of social context is often probed through laboratory stress reactivity, yet child maltreatment is a severe form of chronic stress that recalibrates even stable or relatively inflexible stress systems such as cortisol's diurnal rhythm. This study was designed to determine how different social contexts, which place divergent demands on children, shape cortisol's diurnal rhythm. Participants include 120 adolescents (9-14 years), including 42 youth with substantiated child physical abuse...

INTRODUCTION: Child stunting has a complex aetiology, especially in the first 1000 days of life. Nutrition interventions alone have not produced expected impacts in reducing/preventing child stunting, indicating the importance of understanding the complex interplay between environmental, physiological and psychological factors influencing child nutritional status. This study will investigate maternal and child nutrition, health and well-being status and associated factors through the assessment of: (1) anthropometry, (2) biomarkers of nutrition and health status, (3) dietary intakes, (4) fetal growth and development, (5) infant morbidity, (6) infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and (7) perinatal maternal stress, depression and social support...

UNLABELLED: Depressive disorder is a severe mental condition. In addition to genetic factors, immunological-inflammatory factors, oxidative stress, and disturbances in neurotransmitter metabolism, kynurenine and serotonin pathways may play a role. The exact mechanisms, especially in depressed children and adolescents, are not fully understood. Our primary hypothesis was whether the metabolites of tryptophan degradation in children and adolescents with depressive disorder might be influenced by omega-3 FAs compared to omega-6 FAs during a 12-week supplementation...

Children born very low gestational age (VLGA, 29-32 weeks gestational age [GA]) display slower processing speed and altered hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis function, with greater effects in those born extremely low gestational age (ELGA; 24-28 weeks GA). We investigated trajectories of HPA axis activity as indexed by cortisol output and patterns across cognitive assessment at ages 1.5, 3 and 4.5 years, comparing children born ELGA and VLGA and associations with 4.5-year processing speed...

(1) Background: Bullying is one of the most common forms of aggressive behavior during childhood and adolescence. Some decades ago, researchers began exploring the basis of peer victimization from a biological perspective. Specifically, the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) axes have been studied in relation to status-relevant behaviors, such as bullying. (2) Methods: We conducted a systematic review following the PRISMA guide and registered the review protocol at PROSPERO (CRD42023494738)...

Mindfulness- and self-compassion-based programs have been shown to reduce parental stress, and levels of mindfulness and self-compassion have been shown to be negatively related to parental burnout (PB) factors. Based on these results, the present study aimed to test the efficacy of an 8-week mindfulness and compassion-based group approach (MCA) ( n = 29) compared with the existing Parenting in Balance Program (PBP) ( n = 25). Parents were blindly enrolled in one of the two conditions. Parental burnout, parental neglect and violence, irritability, parental balance between stress-enhancing and stress-alleviating factors, hair cortisol, and mindful parenting and self-compassion were measured before, after, and three months after the end of the program...

IMPORTANCE: Infants with complex congenital heart disease (cCHD) may experience prolonged and severe stress when undergoing open heart surgery. However, little is known about long-term stress and its role in neurodevelopmental impairments in this population. OBJECTIVE: To investigate potential differences between early adolescents aged 10 to 15 years with cCHD and healthy controls in physiological stress markers by hair analysis, executive function (EF) performance, and resilience...

Paediatric Cushing's disease (CD) is characterized by excess ACTH secretion from a pituitary adenoma, leading to hypercortisolism. It has approximately 5% of the incidence of adult CD and is a rare disorder in the paediatric age range. The four most specific presenting features of hypercortisolism are: change in facial appearance, weight gain, decreased linear growth and virilisation shown by advanced pubic hair for the stage of breast development or testicular volume. The main diagnostic priority is the demonstration of hypercortisolism followed by distinction between its ACTH-dependent and ACTH-independent origin, thus leading to identification of aetiology...

Institutionalized children are often deprived of affective touch. Such tactile deprivation often leads to constant stress, as measured by the levels of salivary cortisol. We report here the impact of an affective touch program, optimized to activate a specific population of unmyelinated mechanosensitive nerves in the skin called c-tactile afferents (CT) on stress tolerance. Two populations of children (age 4-10) were recruited: i) a cohort living in an orphanage and ii) a fostered cohort. Both groups received the affective touch program daily for 10-15 minutes for 5-6 weeks...

BACKGROUND: Sleep deprivation can decrease parental well-being and degrade mental and physical health in parents of children with chronic illness. The aim of this study was to explore the associations of sleep quality, psychological stress perception, and evening salivary cortisol concentration with self-esteem, optimism and happiness in parents of children with type 1 diabetes and developmental disorders compared to parents of healthy, typically developing children. METHODS: We studied 196 parents of children with chronic conditions, including autistic spectrum disorder (N = 33), cerebral palsy (N = 18), Down syndrome (N = 33), and diabetes mellitus type 1 (N = 40) and parents of healthy children (N = 72)...

BACKGROUND: Early life adversity is related to numerous poor health outcomes in childhood; however, dyadic interventions that promote sensitive and responsive caregiving may protect children from the negative consequences of such exposures. To date, quasi-experimental and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have examined the impact of dyadic interventions on a range of individual biomarkers in children, which may elucidate the relation between early stress exposure and transdiagnostic risk factors for prospective poor health...

The biological pathways linking lead exposure to adverse outcomes are beginning to be understood. Rodent models suggest lead exposure induces dysfunction within the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and glucocorticoid regulation, a primary physiological stress response system. Over time, HPA axis and glucocorticoid dysfunction has been associated with adverse neurocognitive and cardiometabolic health, much like lead exposure. This systematic review utilized PRISMA guidelines to synthesize the literature regarding associations between lead exposure and downstream effector hormones of the HPA axis, including cortisol, a glucocorticoid, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a glucocorticoid antagonist...

Background and Objectives: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is one of the most common chronic diseases in children and adolescents, and is associated with stress and other psychological alterations. This study aims to assess psychological and sleep disorders and health-related quality of life in young people with T1DM and to determine the relationship between these parameters and levels of salivary cortisol, a hormone widely associated with stress and several psychological symptoms. Materials and Methods: In our cross-sectional study performed in 60 Moroccan children and adolescents with T1DM, detailed psychological evaluations were performed to assess symptoms of anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), sleep quality and diabetes-specific quality of life (using the RCMAS-2, ADHD rating scale, Pittsburgh scale and the DQoL scale, respectively), and cortisol concentration was measured from saliva samples taken mid-morning...

Critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency (CIRCI) can cause hemodynamic instability in neonates after congenital heart surgery with manifestations that increase morbidity and potential mortality. We retrospectively reviewed neonates who underwent cardiac surgery between August 2018 and July 2020 at a freestanding children's hospital, had next-generation sequencing performed, and had their cortisol levels drawn as standard clinical care after cardiac surgery. The groups were defined as CIRCI (with a cortisol level ≤ 4...

BACKGROUND: The use of thoracic epidural analgesia in infants and children could attenuate the stress response and thereby improve the outcomes associated with cardiac surgery. METHODS: This study is a prospective observational study conducted on 118 patients admitted for cardiac surgery. All patients received thoracic epidural analgesia. Laboratory investigations including inflammatory markers, markers for different organ functions, and intensive care unit parameters were collected at different time points (preoperative, immediate postoperative, on day 1, and day 2)...

This study examines the effect of volunteering within a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl) premiere accredited center by exploring the experiences of volunteers leading horses in adaptive riding lessons. Adaptive Riding lessons are horseback riding lessons for individuals ages four through the lifespan, with special needs, varying from cognitive, physical, social-emotional, or other challenges. Volunteers directly impact the rider-horse bond by increasing accessibility to horseback riding for individuals with disabilities, fostering a meaningful bond between the rider and horse...

BACKGROUND: Children with nephrotic syndrome are exposed to alternate day steroids for prolonged periods and this poses the need for evaluation of adrenocortical suppression using the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation test. METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled children (2-18 years) both with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) (n = 27) and steroid resistant (SRNS) (n = 25); those on daily prednisolone or having serious bacterial infections or hospitalized were excluded...

This study probed how baseline cortisol (BC), negative emotionality (NE), and environmental facets-classroom size and window view-interact to affect executive function (EF) in preschoolers using virtual reality (VR). In a cohort of 144 children aged 61-85 months, BC levels were measured by saliva assays and NE by parental surveys. Participants completed computerized EF assessments both pre- and post-exposure to one of four VR conditions, which varied by classroom size (large vs. small) and window view (natural vs...

The study herein evaluated the effects of infiltrative anesthesia administered via different ways. Resultantly, the pain and anxiety were monitored using psychometric, physiological and biochemical methods. Sixty children aged 7-11 years (8.73 ± 1.38) were included in the study. They were divided into 2 groups (n = 30): Traditional injection (control group), and computer controlled local analgesic delivery (CCLAD) (study group). Pulse, oxygen saturation (SpO2 ), and salivary cortisol levels were recorded, and the scales data (Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Wong-Baker Faces Rating Pain Scale (WBS), Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale (MCDAS) and Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, Consolability Behavioral Pain Assessment Scale (FLACC)) were evaluated...