Abstract
Early social stress has potent lifelong health effects. We examined the association of early stress in the attachment relationship (low maternal sensitivity, low MS), lower maternal social hierarchy rank, and greater frequency of group-level social conflict, with biomarkers of inflammatory stress response in plasma (IL-8, MCP-1 and CRP collected two hours after temporary separation from mothers and social groups) and risk for developing a common macaques disease outcome (infectious colitis) in 170 socially-housed rhesus monkeys. We controlled for gene-environment correlations by comparing cross-fostered subjects with infants reared by their biological mothers. Low MS predicted higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and proteins at 3–4 months of age (F(3, 162) = 3.508, p = 0.002, partial eta2 = 0.061) and higher lifetime risk for developing colitis for up to twelve years of age (chi square = 5.919, p = 0.026). Lower maternal social rank (F (3, 162) = 3.789, p = 0.012, partial eta2 = 0.06) and higher rates of social conflict (F (3, 162) = 4.264, p = 0.006, partial eta2 = 0.074) each also predicted greater inflammation in infancy, but not lifetime colitis risk (both p > 0.05). The effects of low MS, lower social rank, and higher social conflict were significant in infants reared by biological mothers and cross-fostered infants, suggesting that our results did not arise from gene-environment correlations, but environmental stressors alone. We conclude that several types of early social stress confer risk for inflammation in infancy, but that stress in the mother-infant relationship may confer the longest-term risk for adverse health outcomes.
Highlights
In humans, there is extensive evidence that multiple factors, such as low socioeconomic status and poverty[6], childhood sexual abuse[12], physical abuse[13,14], neglect[15], and poor parental care[16] are all risk factors for inflammation and poor health outcomes in children
Low maternal sensitivity (MS) was associated with significantly higher concentrations of inflammation biomarkers in infancy (F(3, 162) = 3.508, p = 0.002, partial eta2 = 0.061; Fig. 1)
Multiple types of early adversity have been linked with poorer health outcomes across the lifespan
Summary
There is extensive evidence that multiple factors, such as low socioeconomic status and poverty[6], childhood sexual abuse[12], physical abuse[13,14], neglect[15], and poor parental care[16] are all risk factors for inflammation and poor health outcomes in children. Vital, is the study of the consequences of stress within intact attachment relationships These nuanced experiences are the primary elements of most children’s psychosocial environment. Low MS is presumed to be stressful for infants because the primary attachment figure is not always available for prompt, empathetic, and mutualistic interactions with the child. This is a useful index for maternal care because it depends on the unique needs of the child, rather than assigning common types (or rates) of maternal behavior as “good” or “bad” quality. We followed these subjects for up to twelve years of life, and examined risk for inflammatory disease over the lifespan to identify whether different elements of early social stress influenced lifelong disease risk
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