Megan R. Gunnar

TL;DR: In this Review a model is developed to explain why different disorders emerge in individuals exposed to stress at different times in their lives.

TL;DR: The anatomy and physiology of stress responding, the relevant animal literature, and the importance of individual differences as a lens through which to approach questions about stress experiences during development and child outcomes are reviewed.

TL;DR: In this article, the development of social buffering of cortisol responses that produces a functional analogue of the rodent stress hyporesponsive period by the time children are about 12 months of age is described.

TL;DR: It is argued that developmental studies are needed that help explicate the origins of low cortisol and to determine whether the development of hypocortisolism is, in fact, preceded by periods of frequent or chronic activation of the LHPA axis, and that developmental researchers who incorporate measures of salivary cortisol into their studies of at-risk populations need to be aware of the hypocORTisolism phenomenon.

TL;DR: The findings are consistent with previous reports describing negative effects of prolonged orphanage care on emotional behavior and with animal models that show long-term changes in the amygdala and emotional behavior following early postnatal stress.