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Publication
Developmental effects in physiological stress in early adolescents with and
without autism spectrum disorder.
Authors Corbett BA, Muscatello RA, Kim A, Patel K, Vandekar S
Submitted By Submitted Externally on 12/3/2021
Status Published
Journal Psychoneuroendocrinology
Year 2021
Date Published 3/1/2021
Volume : Pages 125 : 105115
PubMed Reference 33352474
Abstract Humans place high value on how they are socially evaluated by others. The Trier
Social Stress Test (TSST) is a well-established measure of social evaluative
threat that promotes activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis
and release of cortisol. Higher cortisol responses in typically developing (TD)
adolescents are influenced by age and pubertal development especially in later
stages. Children with ASD have been shown to exhibit blunted cortisol in
response to the TSST although adults with ASD show a more prototypical response.
The current study examined physiological stress in early adolescents with ASD
and TD. It was hypothesized that TD youth would show elevated cortisol in
response to the TSST influenced by age and pubertal stage. In contrast, youth
with ASD would show a more diminished stress response yet still show effects for
age and pubertal development METHODS: The sample included 241 youth, 138 with
ASD (median age=11.25) and 103 TD (median age=11.67). Standardized diagnostic
and pubertal development (genital/breast (GB), and pubic hair (PH) stage)
physical exams were performed. Salivary cortisol was collected before and after
the TSST. Linear mixed effects models examined the effects of baseline cortisol,
time, age, sex, pubertal stage, and diagnosis., We did not find an effect of
early pubertal development stage (GB or PH) on cortisol response. There was an
interaction between age and TSST timepoint, showing stronger effects for older
children across the timeline especially during the stressor. Finally, there was
a significant diagnosis by TSST timepoint interaction characterized by a blunted
cortisol stress response in youth with ASD compared to TD participants who
showed higher cortisol., We found evidence that age contributes to an increase
in cortisol in response to social evaluative threat during early adolescence. TD
youth exhibit an adaptive elevated stress response to psychosocial threat
whereas youth with ASD do not. There may exist a developmental lag in the
perception of and stress responsivity to social evaluation which may emerge in
older adolescents with ASD.




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