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1. Childhood adversity during the post‐apartheid transition and COVID ‐19 stress independently predict adult PTSD risk in urban S outh A frica: A biocultural analysis of the stress sensitization hypothesis

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24791  

   Kim, Andrew Wooyoung ; Said Mohamed, Rihlat ; Norris, Shane A. ; Naicker, Sara ; Richter, Linda M. ; Kuzawa, Christopher W. ( June 2023 , American Journal of Biological Anthropology)

   The COVID‐19 pandemic in South Africa introduced new societal adversities and mental health threats in a country where one in three individuals are expected to develop a psychiatric condition sometime in their life. Scientists have suggested that psychosocial stress and trauma during childhood may increase one's vulnerability to the mental health consequences of future stressors—a process known as stress sensitization. This prospective analysis assessed whether childhood adversity experienced among South African children across the first 18 years of life, coinciding with the post‐apartheid transition, exacerbates the mental health impacts of psychosocial stress experienced during the 2019 coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic (ca. 2020–2021).

   Data came from 88 adults who participated in a follow‐up study of a longitudinal birth cohort study in Soweto, South Africa. Childhood adversity and COVID‐19 psychosocial stress were assessed as primary predictors of adult PTSD risk, and an interaction term between childhood adversity and COVID‐19 stress was calculated to evaluate the potential effect of stress sensitization.

   Fifty‐six percent of adults exhibited moderate‐to‐severe PTSD symptoms. Greater childhood adversity and higher COVID‐19 psychosocial stress independently predicted worse post‐traumatic stress disorder symptoms in adults. Adults who reported greater childhood adversity exhibited non‐significantly worse PTSD symptoms from COVID‐19 psychosocial stress.

   These results highlight the deleterious mental health effects of both childhood trauma and COVID‐19 psychosocial stress in our sample and emphasize the need for greater and more accessible mental health support as the pandemic progresses in South Africa.

    

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2. Covid-19-Stress Associated With Worse Sleep Quality, Particularly With Increasing Age

   https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac173  

   Lee, Kyoungeun ; Sayre, Brialisse ; Martin, Sophia ; James, Taylor A. ; Duarte, Audrey ; Gamaldo, ed., Alyssa ( November 2022 , The Journals of Gerontology: Series B)

   Based on socioemotional selectivity theory, one might predict that older adults’ well-being would be less negatively affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)-stress, as with other stressors, than younger people. However, whether sleep quality, which is negatively affected by aging, is similarly protected from the negative consequences of Covid-19-stress with age is unknown. Here, we examined the association between Covid-19-stress, above and beyond general-stress, and sleep quality and how it varies by age.

   From December 2020 to April 2021, 386 adults reported their Covid-19-stress, sleep quality, and resilience in an online study.

   While older age was related to lower Covid-19-stress, Covid-19-stress was associated with worse sleep quality with greater age.

   These results suggest that at least some aspects of one’s well-being may be more susceptible to the negative consequences of stress with increasing age. Our results might be better understood via the strength and vulnerability integration model, which posits that older adults have increased susceptibility to prolonged and unavoidable stress.

    

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3. Dehydroepiandrosterone mediates associations between trauma‐related symptoms and anterior pituitary volume in children and adolescents

   https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26516  

   Picci, Giorgia ; Casagrande, Chloe C. ; Ott, Lauren R. ; Petro, Nathan M. ; Christopher‐Hayes, Nicholas J. ; Johnson, Hallie J. ; Willett, Madelyn P. ; Okelberry, Hannah J. ; Wang, Yu‐Ping ; Stephen, Julia M. ; et al ( October 2023 , Human Brain Mapping)

   The anterior pituitary gland (PG) is a potential locus of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis responsivity to early life stress, with documented associations between dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels and anterior PG volumes. In adults, elevated anxiety/depressive symptoms are related to diminished DHEA levels, and studies have shown a positive relationship between DHEA and anterior pituitary volumes. However, specific links between responses to stress, DHEA levels, and anterior pituitary volume have not been established in developmental samples.

   High‐resolution T1‐weighted MRI scans were collected from 137 healthy youth (9–17 years;M_age = 12.99 (SD = 1.87); 49% female; 85% White, 4% Indigenous, 1% Asian, 4% Black, 4% multiracial, 2% not reported). The anterior and posterior PGs were manually traced by trained raters. We examined the mediating effects of salivary DHEA on trauma‐related symptoms (i.e., anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic) and PG volumes as well as an alternative model examining mediating effects of PG volume on DHEA and trauma‐related symptoms.

   DHEA mediated the association between anxiety symptoms and anterior PG volume. Specifically, higher anxiety symptoms related to lower DHEA levels, which in turn were related to smaller anterior PG.

   These results shed light on the neurobiological sequelae of elevated anxiety in youth and are consistent with adult findings showing suppressed levels of DHEA in those with greater comorbid anxiety and depression. Specifically, adolescents with greater subclinical anxiety may exhibit diminished levels of DHEA during the pubertal window, which may be associated with disruptions in anterior PG growth.

    

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4. At-Home use of App-Based Mindfulness for Children: A Randomized Active-Controlled Trial

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02231-3  

   Treves, Isaac N. ; Olson, Halie A. ; Ozernov-Palchik, Ola ; Li, Cindy E. ; Wang, Kimberly L. ; Arechiga, Xochitl M. ; Goldberg, Simon B. ; Gabrieli, John D. E. ( October 2023 , Mindfulness)

   School-based mindfulness interventions in children have shown benefits to child well-being. Here, we investigated the effectiveness of a remote, app-based mindfulness intervention for promoting well-being in children.

   We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two control groups to examine the effects of an 8-week mindfulness intervention in U.S. children ages 8–10. We compared pre-post effects between a mindfulness intervention using theInner Explorerapp, and two audiobook control interventions. The 279 children who participated in the interventions were assessed on self-report measures of anxiety and depression symptoms, perceived stress and trait mindfulness and we also collected parental reports.

   Over 80% of children completed the intervention in each condition. There was evidence for reduced self-perceived stress in children and reduced negative affect in children by parental reports using the mindfulness app, but no significant reduction for anxiety or depression symptoms. In general, between-group effect sizes were small (d < 0.45). Regular use, defined as at least 30 days of mindfulness practice within the study period, was associated with reduced child negative affect by parental reports, as well as reduced parental stress and child self-perceived stress.

   These findings suggest that home use of a mindfulness app in young children can have a positive impact on children’s emotional well-being if the app is used regularly, specifically for at least 30 days in the 8-week study period. Strategies aimed at promoting regular use of the mindfulness app at home could lead to even better outcomes for children.

   Preregistered on OSF athttps://osf.io/23vax

    

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5. Gun Violence Exposure and Posttraumatic Symptoms Among Children and Youth

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22466  

   Turner, Heather A. ; Mitchell, Kimberly J. ; Jones, Lisa M. ; Hamby, Sherry ; Wade, Jr., Roy ; Beseler, Cheryl L. ( December 2019 , Journal of Traumatic Stress)

   Although statistics on youth homicide and injury from gun violence are available, little research has focused on how gun violence overlaps with other victimizations or on the psychological impact of gun violence on children. Pilot survey data were collected on the experiences of 630 U.S. children (age range: 2–17 years) from Boston, Philadelphia, and rural areas of eastern Tennessee. Youth aged 10–17 years completed a self‐report survey on a wide range of gun violence exposures, and parents of younger children (aged 2–9 years) completed the survey as a proxy for that child. Direct gun violence exposure, witnessing gun violence, and hearing gunshots were all significantly associated with other forms of victimization,rs = .10–.38,p < .001. The findings suggest that youth who experience direct gun violence are often exposed to multiple violent contexts. For older youth (ages 10–17 years) polyvictimization was most strongly associated with posttraumatic symptoms, β = .35,p< .001, although witnessing gun violence still uniquely predicted a higher level of symptoms, β = .18,p< .01. For younger children (ages 2–9 years), hearing and witnessing gun violence were both related to posttraumatic symptoms, β = .15,p< .01 for both, even after controlling for polyvictimization. Mental health professionals and trauma‐informed services should be mindful that the traumatic impact of gun violence for children may not necessarily be attached to direct victimization experiences but may also result from simply seeing or hearing it in their neighborhoods.

    

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