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Physiological Consequences: Early Hardship and Health Across the Life Span

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Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery

Abstract

The overall aim of this chapter is to describe the myriad ways in which early trauma (i.e., adversity, abuse, and poverty) impacts physiology and health across the life span. Reviewed studies focus on the consequences of early adversity for the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, immune functioning, cardiovascular health, chronic disease, and disability prevalence. Studies are also examined for their measurement strategy, specifically as to whether adversity is quantified as a frequency count of exposures or as independent exposure types. Despite differences in measurement strategies and outcomes across studies, many of the studies reviewed support the wide-reaching effects for youth and adults of early trauma exposure. In addition, health-relevant behaviors that have been linked directly or indirectly to early adversity and health are discussed, including overweight/obesity, smoking, alcohol and other substance abuse, and risky sexual behaviors. Finally, measurement challenges as well as individual factors relevant to adversity and health are briefly reviewed. Overall, the work reviewed in this chapter provides trauma researchers with an introduction to the physiological consequences of early adversity across the life span, and provides suggestions for future work in this area.

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Acknowledgments

Support for this research was provided by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (AG026307-R01 and AG028383-P30).

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 115 Kastle Hall, 40506-0044, Lexington, KY, USA

    Jennifer N. Morey PhD & Suzanne C. Segerstrom PhD

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  1. Jennifer N. Morey PhD
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  2. Suzanne C. Segerstrom PhD
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Correspondence to Jennifer N. Morey PhD .

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  1. Louisiana State University Dept. Psychology, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Katie E. Cherry

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Morey, J., Segerstrom, S. (2015). Physiological Consequences: Early Hardship and Health Across the Life Span. In: Cherry, K. (eds) Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18866-9_9

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