Abstract
Purpose
Early-life adversity (ELA) affects health by altering the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. Most studies show that ELA blunts HPA responsivity while others show the opposite. To explain this inconsistency, researchers investigate factors that alter associations between ELA and HPA responsivity. One factor could be conditions that participants encounter before exposure to stressors. Life-history theory suggests ELA alters HPA function by signalling high mortality. Similarly, death thoughts signal acute mortality. Research suggests that thinking about death induces behaviors typical of ELA subjects. We therefore tested whether death thoughts before acute stress mimics the effects of ELA on HPA responsivity.
Methods
One hundred twenty eight healthy young men were classified as high or low ELA based on retrospective self-report, and then primed with death thoughts (experimental group) or completed neutral questionnaires (control group). They then underwent a psychosocial stress task. Salivary cortisol was sampled repeatedly to assess HPA responsivity to stress.
Results
In the control group, higher ELA correlated with lower cortisol responsivity. In the experimental group, subjects with high ELA did not show altered cortisol responsivity, but low ELA participants displayed significantly blunted responsivity in response to death thoughts. Thus, low ELA participants primed with death thoughts resembled high ELA participants not exposed to death thoughts.
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that subtle death cues present in the testing environment may confound associations between ELA and HPA function and should be controlled for in future studies. We discuss how life-history theory could explain how both long-term (ELA) and acute (mortality salience) experiences alter HPA function.
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Data Availability
No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
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We would also like to thank Dr. Blaine Ditto for his comments during the preparation of this paper.
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E.Z. contributed to the study conceptualization and design, material preparation, data collection, analysis, figure preparation, and writing of the manuscript. R.P.J. contributed to writing. A.C.J. and C.C. contributed to material preparation and data collection. J.C.P. supervised and secured funding for the project and contributed to the writing of the manuscript.
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Zakreski, E., Juster, RP., Feneberg, A.C. et al. Inducing Death Thoughts Reduces the Cortisol Response to Psychosocial Stress Similar to the Effects of Early-life Adversity: A Life-history Perspective. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-024-00242-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-024-00242-5