High levels of family stress in infancy are implicated in changes in brain function related to anxiety in teenage girls, according to the 23-year “Wisconsin Study of Families and Work.” “This is one of the first demonstrations that early stress seems to have an impact on the the way this regulatory circuitry is set up in late adolescence,” says Richard Davidson, one of the leaders of the study.
Of further interest:
Baby Girls Exposed to Stress in the First Year ‘More Likely to Suffer Mental Health Issues as a Teenager (But Boys are Unaffected)’ (Investment Watch coverage of a Daily Mail article. Investment watch’s mission is to follow “there world’s economic trends and always be searching for the market-moving insight that everyone else has missed.”)
Early Stress May Sensitize Girls’ Brains For Later Anxiety (SciGuru)
Infant Stress Affects Teen Brain (Nature)
