Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Parent-Child Separation and Diurnal Cortisol Rhythms Among Left-Behind Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Sex

  • Empirical Research
  • Published:
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Prior research examining parent-child separation and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis functioning has primarily focused on separation due to parental divorce or loss or forced migration. Less clear is the impact of parental economic migration on adolescents’ HPA axis functioning. The present study fills this gap by examining diurnal cortisol patterns among left-behind adolescents who experienced separation from their migrant parents. Participants were 293 Chinese adolescents (33.4% girls, 66.21% left-behind adolescents; Mage = 10.80 years old, SD = 0.82 years). Two-level multilevel modeling was conducted to examine the associations between parent-child separation experiences and diurnal cortisol patterns. Although no significant differences were found between left-behind adolescents and their non-left-behind peers, results revealed that left-behind adolescents who experienced parent-child separation at earlier ages had more blunted diurnal cortisol slopes (usually signaling poorer mental and physical health), compared to their counterparts who experienced separation at older ages. Left-behind adolescent girls who had more adverse separation experiences exhibited smaller waking cortisol and blunted diurnal slopes; these findings were not observed among left-behind adolescent boys. Observing the association between timing of parent-child separation and adolescents’ diurnal cortisol and the moderating effects of child sex, this study contributes uniquely to the developmental science of left-behind adolescents’ physiological health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adam, E. K., & Kumari, M. (2009). Assessing salivary cortisol in large-scale, epidemiological research. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34(10), 1423–1436.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Adam, E. K., Hawkley, L. C., Kudielka, B. M., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2006). Day-to-day dynamics of experience–cortisol associations in a population-based sample of older adults. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(45), 17058–17063.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adam, E. K., Quinn, M. E., Tavernier, R., McQuillan, M. T., Dahlke, K. A., & Gilbert, K. E. (2017). Diurnal cortisol slopes and mental and physical health outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 83, 25–41.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Adler, N. E., Epel, E. S., Castellazzo, G., & Ickovics, J. R. (2000). Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: Preliminary data in healthy, White women. Health Psychology, 19(6), 586–592.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bevan, K., & Kumari, M. (2021). Maternal separation in childhood and hair cortisol concentrations in late adulthood. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 130, 105253.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boggero, I. A., Hostinar, C. E., Haak, E. A., Murphy, M., & Segerstrom, S. C. (2017). Psychosocial functioning and the cortisol awakening response: meta-analysis, P-curve analysis, and evaluation of the evidential value in existing studies. Biological Psychology, 129, 207–230.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U., & Ceci, S. J. (1994). Nature-nurture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: a bioecological model. Psychological Review, 101(4), 568–586.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U., & Evans, G. W. (2000). Developmental science in the 21st century: emerging questions, theoretical models, research designs and empirical findings. Social Development, 9(1), 115–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, C. A., McKay, S., Susman, E. J., Wynne-Edwards, K., Wright, J. M., & Weinberg, J. (2017). Cortisol stress response variability in early adolescence: Attachment, affect and sex. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(1), 104–120.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, T., Grecian, S. M., & Reynolds, R. M. (2017). Sex differences in early-life programming of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in humans suggest increased vulnerability in females: a systematic review. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 8(2), 244–255.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, X., Zeng, C., Gong, C., Zhang, L., Wan, Y., Tao, F., & Sun, Y. (2019). Associations between early life parent-child separation and shortened telomere length and psychopathological outcomes during adolescence. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 103, 195–202.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clow, A., Hucklebridge, F., Stalder, T., Evans, P., & Thorn, L. (2010). The cortisol awakening response: more than a measure of HPA axis function. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35(1), 97–103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Enders, C. K., & Tofighi, D. (2007). Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multilevel models: a new look at an old issue. Psychological Methods, 12, 121–138.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fellmeth, G., Rose-Clarke, K., Zhao, C., Busert, L. K., Zheng, Y., Massazza, A., Sonmez, H., Eder, B., Blewitt, A., Lertgrai, W., Orcutt, M., Ricci, K., Mohamed-Ahmed, O., Burns, R., Knipe, D., Hargreaves, S., Hesketh, T., Opondo, C., & Devakumar, D. (2018). Health impacts of parental migration on left-behind children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet, 392(10164), 2567–2582.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Francis, E. R., Tsaligopoulou, A., Stock, S. E., Pingault, J. B., & Baldwin, J. R. (2023). Subjective and objective experiences of childhood adversity: A meta-analysis of their agreement and relationships with psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 64(8), 1185–1199.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frost, A., Bosquet Enlow, M., Malin, A. J., Bernard, K., & Wright, R. J. (2021). Early adverse experiences and repeated wheezing from 6 to 30 months of age: Investigating the roles of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning, child sex, and caregiving sensitivity. Child Development, 92(6), e1260–e1274.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnar, M. R., & Vazquez, D. M. (2001). Low cortisol and a flattening of expected daytime rhythm: potential indices of risk in human development. Development and Psychopathology, 13(3), 515–538.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnar, M. R., DePasquale, C. E., Reid, B. M., Donzella, B., & Miller, B. S. (2019). Pubertal stress recalibration reverses the effects of early life stress in postinstitutionalized children. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(48), 23984–23988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnar, M. R., Hostinar, C. E., Sanchez, M. M., Tottenham, N., & Sullivan, R. M. (2015). Parental buffering of fear and stress neurobiology: reviewing parallels across rodent, monkey, and human models. Social Neuroscience, 10(5), 474–478.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gunnar, M., & Quevedo, K. (2007). The neurobiology of stress and development. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 145–173.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haltigan, J. D., Roisman, G. I., Susman, E. J., Barnett-Walker, K., & Monahan, K. C. (2011). Elevated trajectories of externalizing problems are associated with lower awakening cortisol levels in midadolescence. Developmental Psychology, 47(2), 472–478.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hengesch, X., Elwenspoek, M., Schaan, V. K., Larra, M. F., Finke, J. B., Zhang, X., Bachmann, P., Turner, J. D., Vögele, C., Muller, C. P., & Schächinger, H. (2018). Blunted endocrine response to a combined physical-cognitive stressor in adults with early life adversity. Child Abuse & Neglect, 85, 137–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodes, G. E., & Epperson, C. N. (2019). Sex differences in vulnerability and resilience to stress across the life span. Biological Psychiatry, 86(6), 421–432.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hostinar, C. E., Sullivan, R. M., & Gunnar, M. R. (2014). Psychobiological mechanisms underlying the social buffering of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis: a review of animal models and human studies across development. Psychological Bulletin, 140(1), 256–282.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, Y., Song, Q., Tao, R., & Liang, Z. (2018). Migration, family arrangement, and children’s health in China. Child Development, 89(2), e74–e90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys, K. L. (2019). Future directions in the study and treatment of parent–child separation. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 48(1), 166–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, E. L., Jiang, Y., Rodriguez-Stanley, J., Almeida, D. M., Engeland, C. G., & Zilioli, S. (2021). Perceived stress is linked to heightened biomarkers of inflammation via diurnal cortisol in a national sample of adults. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 93, 206–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2021.01.015.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Koss, K. J., & Gunnar, M. R. (2018). Annual research review: early adversity, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, and child psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(4), 327–346.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kumari, M., Head, J., Bartley, M., Stansfeld, S., & Kivimaki, M. (2013). Maternal separation in childhood and diurnal cortisol patterns in mid-life: findings from the Whitehall II study. Psychological Medicine, 43(3), 633–643.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li, M., Lan, Q., Qiu, L., Yuan, Y., He, F., Zhang, C., & Zhang, L. (2022). Diurnal cortisol in left-behind adolescents: Relations to negative family expressiveness and internalizing problems. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 844014.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Li, X., Coid, J. W., Tang, W., Lv, Q., Zhang, Y., Yu, H., Wang, Q., Deng, W., Zhao, L., Ma, X., Meng, Y., Li, M., Wang, H., Chen, T., Guo, W., & Li, T. (2021). Sustained effects of left-behind experience during childhood on mental health in Chinese university undergraduates. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 30(12), 1949–1957.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, W., Zhang, A., He, H., Zhao, X., Tao, F., & Sun, Y. (2021). Inflammatory burden in adolescents with prolonged parent-child separation. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 98, 257–262.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McEwen, B. S. (1998). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. The New England Journal of Medicine, 338(3), 171–179.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2019). Mplus user’s guide (8th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

  • O’Connor, D. B., Thayer, J. F., & Vedhara, K. (2021). Stress and health: a review of psychobiological processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 72, 663–688.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oransky, M., Hahn, H., & Stover, C. S. (2013). Caregiver and youth agreement regarding youths’ trauma histories: Implications for youths’ functioning after exposure to trauma. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42(10), 1528–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sapolsky, R. M., Romero, L. M., & Munck, A. U. (2000). How do glucocorticoids influence stress responses? Integrating permissive, suppressive, stimulatory, and preparative actions. Endocrine Reviews, 21(1), 55–89.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Simsek, M., Costa, R., & de Valk, H. A. (2021). Childhood residential mobility and health outcomes: a meta-analysis. Health & Place, 71, 102650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sladek, M. R., Doane, L. D., & Stroud, C. B. (2017). Individual and day-to-day differences in active coping predict diurnal cortisol patterns among early adolescent girls. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(1), 121–135.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smetana, J. G., & Rote, W. M. (2019). Adolescent-parent relationships: progress, processes, and prospects. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 1(1), 41–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun, J., Jiang, Y., Zilioli, S., Xie, M., Chen, L., & Lin, D. (2023). Psychological and physical abuse and cortisol response to stress: the moderating role of psychosocial resources. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 52(1), 91–104.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tan, J. J., Kraus, M. W., Carpenter, N. C., & Adler, N. E. (2020). The association between objective and subjective socioeconomic status and subjective well-being: a meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 146(11), 970–1020.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thalmayer, A. G., Toscanelli, C., & Arnett, J. J. (2021). The neglected 95% revisited: is American psychology becoming less American? American Psychologist, 76(1), 116–129.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • The National Bureau of Statistics of China. (2021). Summary of the seventh national census. http://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202302/t20230203_1901080.html.

  • van der Voorn, B., Hollanders, J. J., Ket, J. C. F., Rotteveel, J., & Finken, M. J. J. (2017). Gender-specific differences in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity during childhood: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Biology of Sex Differences, 8, 3.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Waddoups, A. B., Yoshikawa, H., & Strouf, K. (2019). Developmental effects of parent–child separation. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 1, 387–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, S., Zhao, X., Yu, Y., Tao, F., Liu, D., & Sun, Y. (2023). Prolonged rather than early childhood parent-child separation predicts change in molecular markers of cellular aging: A consideration of the role of adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 52(1), 165–176.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wen, M., & Lin, D. (2012). Child development in rural China: children left behind by their migrant parents and children of nonmigrant families. Child Development, 83(1), 120–136.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, L., & Bukowski, W. M. (2021). Gender is key: girls’ and boys’ cortisol differs as a factor of socioeconomic status and social experiences during early adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(6), 1281–1291.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, D. D., Duan, X. N., Wan, Y. H., Zhang, Z. H., Su, P. Y., Tao, F. B., & Sun, Y. (2020). Developmental pattern of diurnal cortisol rhythm and sex-specific associations with psychopathological symptoms during pubertal transition. Psychosomatic Medicine, 82(9), 823–829.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, D., Fang, J., Zhang, L., Yuan, J., Wan, Y., Su, P., & Sun, Y. (2021). Pubertal recalibration of cortisol reactivity following early life parent-child separation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 278, 320–326.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, N., Bécares, L., & Chandola, T. (2015). Does the timing of parental migration matter for child growth? A life course study on left-behind children in rural China. BMC Public Health, 15, 966.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, G., Wang, M., Xu, J., Lu, J., Akezhuoli, H., & Wang, F. (2022). Health status and association with interpersonal relationships among Chinese children from urban migrant to rural left-behind. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 862219.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, J., Li, Q., Wang, L., Lin, L., & Zhang, W. (2019). Latent profile analysis of left-behind adolescents’ psychosocial adaptation in rural China. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(6), 1146–1160.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou, C., Sylvia, S., Zhang, L., Luo, R., Yi, H., Liu, C., Shi, Y., Loyalka, P., Chu, J., Medina, A., & Rozelle, S. (2015). China’s Left-behind children: impact of parental migration on health, nutrition, and educational outcomes. Health Affairs, 34(11), 1964–1971.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Project #32071076] awarded to the last author. The work was partially funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under award 2021M700484 for the first author. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Natural Science Foundation of China or the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation.

Data Sharing and Declaration

The data for the manuscript are not deposited but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Mingjun Xie, Shiyuan Xiang, Shan Zhao & Danhua Lin

  2. Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Yanping Jiang

  3. Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Yanping Jiang

  4. Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Samuele Zilioli

  5. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Samuele Zilioli

Authors
  1. Mingjun Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yanping Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Samuele Zilioli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shiyuan Xiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Shan Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Danhua Lin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

M.X. conceived of the study, reviewed the literature, performed the statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript; Y.J. helped to interpret the data and edit the manuscript; S.Z. participated in the interpretation of the data and editing the manuscript; S.X. helped to draft the methods section and present the results; S.Z. conducted literature searches and drafted part of introduction; D.L. designed and supervised the original data collection and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Danhua Lin.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

The study procedures were approved by Beijing Normal University Institutional Review Board. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from primary caregivers of participating children and adolescents. Informal assent was obtained from children and adolescents.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xie, M., Jiang, Y., Zilioli, S. et al. Parent-Child Separation and Diurnal Cortisol Rhythms Among Left-Behind Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Sex. J. Youth Adolescence 52, 2144–2157 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01820-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01820-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation