应激下皮质醇反应在早期逆境与青少年执行功能间的中介作用*

尹霞云; 符蝶; 贺玲; 彭金兰; 徐旻昱; 黎志华

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250507

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心理科学 ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (5) : 1102-1112. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250507

发展与教育

应激下皮质醇反应在早期逆境与青少年执行功能间的中介作用^*

尹霞云¹, 符蝶^1,2, 贺玲^1,3, 彭金兰^1,4, 徐旻昱¹, 黎志华^**1

作者信息 +

Mediation of Cortisol Responses to Stress between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Executive Function

Yin Xiayun¹, Fu Die^1,2, He Ling^1,3, Peng Jinlan^1,4, Xu Minyu¹, Li Zhihua¹

Author information +

文章历史 +

摘要

为探讨早期逆境对青少年执行功能的影响及其中介机制,研究选取136名青少年（M_年龄 =13.10,男生66人）为研究对象,要求其在应激状态下完成执行功能任务,以探究应激下皮质醇反应的中介作用。结果发现：（1）高逆境组比低逆境组青少年,表现出更差的“冷”、“热”执行功能水平;（2）中介效应分析显示,应激下皮质醇反应在早期逆境和“冷”执行功能及冲动控制之间的中介作用显著,而对情感决策的中介效应不显著。研究揭示了早期逆境经历对“冷”、“热”执行功能的影响,应激下皮质醇反应在早期逆境对青少年“冷”执行功能和部分“热”执行功能的影响中起重要的中介作用。

Abstract

Adverse childhood experience (ACE) is a major threat to adolescent development. On the one hand, ACE is a global public health problem with a high incidence and multiple adversities; on the other hand, ACE seriously threatens the development of adolescents' executive functioning (EF), which is an important cognitive foundation for individuals' well-adjusted and healthy development, and is closely related to individuals' immediate and long-term development. However, previous studies have mostly focused on the direct effects of ACE on adolescents' "cold" executive functions, but less on the effects on "cold" and "hot" executive functions, and the mechanisms behind these effects have not been sufficiently investigated. The mechanisms behind these effects have been understudied. According to the Biological Embedding Hypothesis, ACE can be biologically embedded in an individual's body system, which may disorder the adolescent's stress response system and ultimately impair EF. However, there is a lack of empirical studies that directly validate the mediating role of the cortisol response to stress in the relationship between ACE and adolescents' EF, and previous studies have disputed how ACE affects the cortisol response to stress. Specifically, ACE makes it possible for the stress response system to manifest either a high cortisol response or a low cortisol response to stress.
To enrich research in this area, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between ACE and EF in adolescents as well as the mediating role of the cortisol response under stress. The study hypothesized that ACE has a negative effect on adolescent EF and that stress response dissonance is one of the key physiological pathways involved. To test these hypotheses, the study investigated executive functioning in 136 adolescents (M_age = 13.10, 66 boys) using a 2 (adversity: high/low) * 2 (stress: experimental/control) between-subjects design. Subjects' optimal levels of "cold" and "hot" executive functioning were measured using the Stroop task, the Numerical Breadth task, the Iowa Game task, and the Delay Discount task. Salivary cortisol levels under stress were also measured repeatedly to investigate the mediating role of cortisol responses under stress.
The results show that ACE has the same influence on the "cold" and "hot" executive function. Adolescents in the high stress group show worse "cold" and "hot" executive function than adolescents in the low stress group, which indicates that ACE is a risk factor for teenagers' executive function. In addition, the analysis of mediation effect shows that cortisol's response to stress significantly mediates the relationship between ACE and "cold" executive function (working memory and inhibition control) and part of "hot" executive function (impulse control), but not between early adversity and emotional decision-making. This shows that ACE may cause irreversible damage to physiological response, and ultimately affect the development of adolescents' cognitive function, especially the "cold" executive function.
The present study revealed the effects of ACE on the "cold" and "hot" executive functions, and the cortisol response to stress was an important factor in the "cold" and "hot" executive functions of adolescents affected by ACE, cortisol response under stress is the mechanism by which ACE affects the "cold" and "hot" executive functions in adolescents. The study suggests that, on the one hand, the impact of ACE should not be taken lightly, and risk avoidance of ACE is essential, and intervention for ACE should be conducted as early as possible; on the other hand, in the future intervention practice, we can consider using the cortisol to stress as an indicator for helping to identify adolescents who are more prone to developmental problems after suffering from ACE, and then provide them with targeted interventions.

导出引用

尹霞云, 符蝶, 贺玲, 彭金兰, 徐旻昱, 黎志华. 应激下皮质醇反应在早期逆境与青少年执行功能间的中介作用^*[J]. 心理科学. 2025, 48(5): 1102-1112 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250507

Yin Xiayun, Fu Die, He Ling, Peng Jinlan, Xu Minyu, Li Zhihua. Mediation of Cortisol Responses to Stress between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Executive Function[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2025, 48(5): 1102-1112 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250507

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