| Childhood adversity and allostatic overload of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis: a vulnerability model for depressive disorders. |
| Summary: Explores the link between childhood adversity (including child abuse, parental substance misuse and domestic violence) and depression in later life. Presents evidence that allostatic overload of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) partially mediates this association (HPAA is the physiological system that regulates levels of the stress hormone cortisol). Concludes that HPAA dysregulation may result in corticoid-mediated abnormalities in neurogenesis in early life and/or neurotoxicity on neural systems that subserve emotions and cognition. |
| Publication details: Development and Psychopathology Volume 23 Issue 4, 2011 pp 1017-1037 |
| Authors: Wilkinson, Paul O., and Goodyer, Ian M. |
