WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- A U.S. study suggests a strong link between significant stress early in life and higher incidence of mental health problems during adolescence.
The research by the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University and the University of Pittsburgh strengthens the case for proactive treatment or counseling of children who undergo a significant early-life stress.
The findings were presented at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington.
The researchers studied 16 small social groups of monkeys for three years. Because monkeys mature at a more accelerated pace than humans, a monkey 2 to 4 years old would correspond to a human teenager in mental and physical development.
"Until now only human observation and theories have suggested that early-life stresses can also lead to problems as far away as the teenage years," said lead author Dr. Judy Cameron, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. "By studying a species that has responses to early-life stresses that are very similar to young children, we can get a developmental picture that is much clearer than in humans."
