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Harshness and unpredictability: Childhood environmental links with immune and asthma outcomes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2021

Phoebe H. Lam Open the ORCID record for Phoebe H. Lam [Opens in a new window] ,
Gregory E. Miller ,
Lauren Hoffer ,
Rebekah Siliezar ,
Johanna Dezil ,
Amanda McDonald  and
Edith Chen
Phoebe H. Lam*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Gregory E. Miller
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Lauren Hoffer
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Rebekah Siliezar
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Johanna Dezil
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Amanda McDonald
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Edith Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
*
Corresponding author: Phoebe H. Lam, email: phoebelam@u.northwestern.edu
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Abstract

The environment has pervasive impacts on human development, and two key environmental conditions – harshness and unpredictability – are proposed to be instrumental in tuning development. This study examined (1) how harsh and unpredictable environments related to immune and clinical outcomes in the context of childhood asthma, and (2) whether there were independent associations of harshness and unpredictability with these outcomes. Participants were 290 youth physician-diagnosed with asthma. Harshness was assessed with youth-reported exposure to violence and neighborhood-level murder rate. Unpredictability was assessed with parent reports of family structural changes. Youth also completed measures of asthma control as well as asthma quality of life and provided blood samples to assess immune profiles, including in vitro cytokine responses to challenge and sensitivity to inhibitory signals from glucocorticoids. Results indicated that harshness was associated with more pronounced pro-inflammatory cytokine production following challenge and less sensitivity to the inhibitory properties of glucocorticoids. Furthermore, youth exposed to harsher environments reported less asthma control and poorer quality of life. All associations with harshness persisted when controlling for unpredictability. No associations between unpredictability and outcomes were found. These findings suggest that relative to unpredictability, harshness may be a more consistent correlate of asthma-relevant immune and clinical outcomes.

Keywords

asthmaharshnessinflammationunpredictability
Type
Special Issue Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 34 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Dimensions of early experience and adaptive and maladaptive development , May 2022 , pp. 587 - 596
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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