Childhood urbanicity and hair steroid hormone levels in ten-year-old children

Urban areas may be stressful living environments for humans (Mizrahi, 2016). They are characterized by high population density, encounters with strangers and unclear dominance order, factors that may increase the threat of social evaluation and thus social stress (Van Os et al., 2000). Living in a socially stressful environment is considered to be a major contributor to dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (Champagne, 2013) and has been linked to earlier sexual maturation in females (i.e.
Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Short Communication Source Type: research