Changes in indicators of stress-regulating systems in adolescents of Ukraine during the period of military actions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15574/SP.2023.136.61Keywords:
war in Ukraine, adolescents, stress-realizing and stress-limiting systems, adaptation mechanismsAbstract
Purpose - to identify changes in indicators of stress-regulatory systems in adolescents during military operations in Ukraine.
Materials and methods. 243 children and adolescents (130 boys and 113 girls) aged 10-17 years were examined. The level of cortisol (C), prolactin (PRL) and serotonin (S) was determined in blood. Two groups of patients were formed: the first group included 203 schoolchildren who were examined before russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the second group consisted of 40 adolescents examined after February 24, 2022. The indicators of the stress-regulatory systems of adolescents of two groups and the ratio of С/S and PRL/S were compared. When assessing differences, the Mann-Whitney test was used and the odds ratio (OR) was calculated.
Results. The risk of developing a depressive state in a schoolchildren increased 24 times during the war in Ukraine. This is consistent with the detected changes in the stress-regulatory systems in the adolescents of the second group: the activation of the stress-realizing hormones - С and PRL and a simultaneous decrease in the level of C in the blood - an indicator of the stress-limiting system. Confirmation of the imbalance of stress-realizing and stress-limiting systems are high levels of adaptation coefficients: C/S and PRL/S. It was established that girls are most stress-sensitive to events related to changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system during hostilities in the country. In girls, the levels of C and PRL, C/S and PRL/S coefficients increase, and the concentration of serotonin decreases by 2 times.
Conclusions. The obtained results indicate a violation of adaptation and compensatory mechanisms in adolescents during the war. This is the basis for the emergence and progression of various diseases, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of the participating institution. The informed consent of the patient was obtained for conducting the studies.
No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.
References
Borshch KK. (2023). Features of the manifestation of stress among children in the conditions of war. Scientific Bulletin of Uzhhorod National University. Series: Psychology. 1: 47-51. https://doi.org/10.32782/psy-visnyk/2023.1.9; PMid:37780192
Bürgin D, Anagnostopoulos D, Board and Policy Division of ESCAP; Vitiello B, Sukale T, Schmid M, Fegert JM. (2022). Impact of war and forced displacement on children's mental health-multilevel, needs-oriented, and trauma-informed approaches. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 31(6): 845-853. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-022-01974-z; PMid:35286450 PMCid:PMC9209349
Davyidov VV, Kashkalda DA, Goloborodko AV. (2008). Normyi soderzhaniya biologicheski aktivnyih veschestv u detey i podrostkov. Spravochnik. Harkov: Fedorko: 119-121.
Faron-Górecka A, Kuśmider M, Kolasa M, Zurawek D, Gruca P, Papp M et al. (2014, Mar 25). Prolactin and its receptors in the chronic mild stress rat model of depression. Brain Res. 1555: 48-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2014.01.031; PMid:24508286
Grattan DR. (2015). 60 years of neuroendocrinology: The hypothalamo-prolactin axi. J. Endocrinol. 226(2): 101-122. https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-15-0213; PMid:26101377 PMCid:PMC4515538
Hoppen TH, Morina N. (2019). The prevalence of PTSD and major depression in the global population of adult war survivors: a meta-analytically informed estimate in absolute numbers. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2019.1578637; PMid:30834069 PMCid:PMC6394282
Hoppen TH, Priebe S, Vetter I, Morina N. (2021). Global burden of post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression in countries affected by war between 1989 and 2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis? BMJ Glob Health. 6(7): e006303 URL: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006303; PMid:34321235 PMCid:PMC8319986
Josephs RA, Cobb AR, Lancaster CL, Lee HJ, Telch MJ. (2017). Dual-hormone stress reactivity predicts downstream war-zone stress-evoked PTSD. J Telch. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 78: 76-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.01.013; PMid:28178580
Júnior JG, de Amorim LM, Neto MLR, Uchida RR, de Moura ATMS, Lima NNR. (2022). The impact of "the war that drags on" in Ukraine for the health of children and adolescents: Old problems in a new conflict? Child Abuse & Neglect. 128(2): 105602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105602; PMid:35364467 PMCid:PMC8963741
Kadir A, Shenoda S, Goldhagen J, Pitterman S. (2018). The Effects of Armed Conflict on Children. Pediatrics. 142(6): 2586. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2586; PMid:30397168
Kadir A, Shenoda S, Goldhagen J. (2019). Effects of armed conflict on child health and development: a systematic review. PLOS ONE. 14(1): e0210071. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210071; PMid:30650095 PMCid:PMC6334973
Kashkalda DA, Lebets IS. (2018). Emotional stress and stress-regulating systems indicators in children and adolescents from the Joint forces operation zone. Ukrainian journal of pediatric endocrinology. 2: 23-27. https://doi.org/10.30978/DE2018-2-38
Korenev NM, Kashkalda DA, Volkova YuV, Lebets IS. (2017). Changes of indices of stress management systems in children and adolescents from the Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone. Ukrainian journal of pediatric endocrinology. 1: 11-15.
Lebets IS, Nikonova VV, Tolmachova SR, Matkovskaya TM, Kukuruza GV, Tsyrulik SM et al. (2018). Features of health and principles of preventing psychosomatic and psychological disorders in schoolchildren from the zone of military conflict. Child's Health. 13(8): 729-735. https://doi.org/10.22141/2224-0551.13.8.2018.154152
Morina N, Hoppen TH, Priebe S. (2020). Out of sight, out of mind: refugees are just the tip of the iceberg. An illustration using the cases of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Front Psychiatry. 11: 179. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00179; PMid:32210856 PMCid:PMC7068215
Ogłodek EA. (2022). Changes in the Serum Concentration Levels of Serotonin, Tryptophan and Cortisol among Stress-Resilient and Stress-Susceptible Individuals after Experiencing Traumatic Stress. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 19(24): 16517. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416517; PMid:36554398 PMCid:PMC9779530
Pivac N, Kozaric-Kovacic D, Mustapic M, Dezeljin M, Borovecki A, Grubisic-Ilic M, Muck-Seler D. (2006). Platelet serotonin in combat related posttraumatic stress disorder with psychotic symptoms. J Affect Disord. 93(1-3): 223-227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2006.02.018; PMid:16647142
Ranabir S, Indian KR. (2011). Stress and hormones. J Endocrinol Metab. 15(1): 18-22. https://doi.org/10.4103/2230-8210.77573; PMid:21584161 PMCid:PMC3079864
Rauch SAM, Sripada R, Burton M, Michopoulos V, Kerley K. (2020). Neuroendocrine biomarkers of prolonged exposure treatment response in military-related. PTSD Psychoneuroendocrinology. 119: 104749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104749; PMid:32554173
Shaheen M, Schindler L, Saar-Ashkenazy R, Odeh KB, Soreq H, Friedman A, Kirschbaum C. (2020). Victims of war-Psychoendocrine evidence for the impact of traumatic stress on psychological well-being of adolescents growing up during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Psychophysiology. 57(1): e13271. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13271; PMid:30101980
Shikaeva F, Efimenko N, Plotnikova V, Zvarich L. (2002). The prolactin and cortisol levels in girls-adolescents as indicator of adaptation possibilities of organism. Bulletin of Zaporizhzhіa National University. 3: 1-3.
Smeeth D, McEwen FS, Popham CM, Karam EG, Fayyad J, Saab D et al. (2023). War exposure, post-traumatic stress symptoms and hair cortisol concentrations in Syrian refugee children Mol Psychiatry. 28(2): 647-656. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01859-2; PMid:36385169 PMCid:PMC9908541
Stockhorst U, Antov MI. (2016). Modulation of Fear Extinction by Stress, Stress Hormones and Estradiol: A Review. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 9: 359. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00359; PMid:26858616 PMCid:PMC4726806
Studerus E, Ittig S, Beck K, Cacho ND, Vila-Badia R, Butjosa A et al. (2021). Relation between self-perceived stress, psychopathological symptoms and the stress hormone prolactin in emerging psychosis. J Psychiatr Res. 136: 428-434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.06.014; PMid:32948308
UNICEF. (2019). The United Nations convention on the rights of the child-the children's version. URL: https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/united-nations-convention-rights-child-childrens-version.
Velykodna M, Kolisnyk L, Shestopalova O, Shylo O, Deputatov V. (2022). Stress reactions, trauma and post-traumatic growth of schoolers during the Russian war against Ukraine. Theoretical and applied problems of psychology. 1(57): 81-97. https://doi.org/10.33216/2219-2654-2022-57-1-2-81-97
Yatsyna OF. (2022). Impact of war on mental health: signs of psychological trauma of children and adolescents. Naukovi perspectuvu. 7(25): 554-567. https://doi.org/10.52058/2708-7530-2022-7(25)-554-567
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Modern pediatrics. Ukraine
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The policy of the Journal “MODERN PEDIATRICS. UKRAINE” is compatible with the vast majority of funders' of open access and self-archiving policies. The journal provides immediate open access route being convinced that everyone – not only scientists - can benefit from research results, and publishes articles exclusively under open access distribution, with a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 international license (СС BY-NC).
Authors transfer the copyright to the Journal “MODERN PEDIATRICS. UKRAINE” when the manuscript is accepted for publication. Authors declare that this manuscript has not been published nor is under simultaneous consideration for publication elsewhere. After publication, the articles become freely available on-line to the public.
Readers have the right to use, distribute, and reproduce articles in any medium, provided the articles and the journal are properly cited.
The use of published materials for commercial purposes is strongly prohibited.
