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Social bonds do not mediate the relationship between early adversity and adult glucocorticoids in wild baboons.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Rosenbaum, S; Zeng, S; Campos, FA; Gesquiere, LR; Altmann, J; Alberts, SC; Li, F; Archie, EA
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
August 2020

In humans and other animals, harsh conditions in early life can have profound effects on adult physiology, including the stress response. This relationship may be mediated by a lack of supportive relationships in adulthood. That is, early life adversity may inhibit the formation of supportive social ties, and weak social support is itself often linked to dysregulated stress responses. Here, we use prospective, longitudinal data from wild baboons in Kenya to test the links between early adversity, adult social bonds, and adult fecal glucocorticoid hormone concentrations (a measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal [HPA] axis activation and the stress response). Using a causal inference framework, we found that experiencing one or more sources of early adversity led to a 9 to 14% increase in females' glucocorticoid concentrations across adulthood. However, these effects were not mediated by weak social bonds: The direct effects of early adversity on adult glucocorticoid concentrations were 11 times stronger than the effects mediated by social bonds. This pattern occurred, in part, because the effect of social bonds on glucocorticoids was weak compared to the powerful effects of early adversity on glucocorticoid levels in adulthood. Hence, in female baboons, weak social bonds in adulthood are not enough to explain the effects of early adversity on glucocorticoid concentrations. Together, our results support the well-established notions that early adversity and weak social bonds both predict poor adult health. However, the magnitudes of these two effects differ considerably, and they may act independently of one another.

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Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

August 2020

Volume

117

Issue

33

Start / End Page

20052 / 20062

Related Subject Headings

  • Stress, Psychological
  • Social Behavior
  • Prospective Studies
  • Pituitary-Adrenal System
  • Papio
  • Object Attachment
  • Male
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Glucocorticoids
  • Female
 

Citation

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Rosenbaum, S., Zeng, S., Campos, F. A., Gesquiere, L. R., Altmann, J., Alberts, S. C., … Archie, E. A. (2020). Social bonds do not mediate the relationship between early adversity and adult glucocorticoids in wild baboons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(33), 20052–20062. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004524117
Rosenbaum, Stacy, Shuxi Zeng, Fernando A. Campos, Laurence R. Gesquiere, Jeanne Altmann, Susan C. Alberts, Fan Li, and Elizabeth A. Archie. “Social bonds do not mediate the relationship between early adversity and adult glucocorticoids in wild baboons.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117, no. 33 (August 2020): 20052–62. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004524117.
Rosenbaum S, Zeng S, Campos FA, Gesquiere LR, Altmann J, Alberts SC, et al. Social bonds do not mediate the relationship between early adversity and adult glucocorticoids in wild baboons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2020 Aug;117(33):20052–62.
Rosenbaum, Stacy, et al. “Social bonds do not mediate the relationship between early adversity and adult glucocorticoids in wild baboons.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 117, no. 33, Aug. 2020, pp. 20052–62. Epmc, doi:10.1073/pnas.2004524117.
Rosenbaum S, Zeng S, Campos FA, Gesquiere LR, Altmann J, Alberts SC, Li F, Archie EA. Social bonds do not mediate the relationship between early adversity and adult glucocorticoids in wild baboons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2020 Aug;117(33):20052–20062.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

August 2020

Volume

117

Issue

33

Start / End Page

20052 / 20062

Related Subject Headings

  • Stress, Psychological
  • Social Behavior
  • Prospective Studies
  • Pituitary-Adrenal System
  • Papio
  • Object Attachment
  • Male
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Glucocorticoids
  • Female