Annual Research Review: Early adversity, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis, and child psychopathology

Research on early adversity, stress biology, and child development has grown exponentially in recent years.We review the current evidence for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis as a stress-mediating mechanism between various forms of childhood adversity and psychopathology. We begin with a review of the neurobiology of the axis and evidence for relations between early adversity-HPA axis activity and HPA axis...