Cortisol Reactivity and Socially Anxious Behavior in Previously Institutionalized Youth

The current study investigated the association between cortisol stress reactivity to a social stressor and observed socially anxious behaviors both concurrently and over time among previously institutionalized (PI) (N=132; ages 7-17) youth and a comparison non-adopted (NA) sample (N=176). Cortisol reactivity was captured during the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C; Yim et al., 2015) and youths' social anxiety behaviors were coded during the speech portion of the TSST-C. Autoregressive cross-lagged panel models with structured residuals showed that for PI youth, greater cortisol reactivity predicted increases in socially anxious behavior during the TSST-C across three sessions. However, greater cortisol reactivity was negatively associated with concurrent social anxiety behavior. Thus, increases in cortisol reactivity across adolescence may aid in behavioral control in social situations in the short-term but may exacerbate PI youths' socially anxious behavior over time. No significant associations emerged for NA youth.

Automated summary

This study found that greater cortisol reactivity in previously institutionalized youth predicted increases in socially anxious behavior during social stress situations, but was negatively associated with concurrent social anxiety behavior. While increased cortisol reactivity may help with behavioral control in social situations in the short-term, it may exacerbate socially anxious behavior in institutionalized youth over time. No significant associations were found for non-adopted youth.