Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30999015›Full record

SynthesisBrain, behavior, and immunity2020

Early life adversity exposure and circulating markers of inflammation in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Kate R Kuhlman, Sarah R Horn, Jessica J Chiang, Julienne E Bower

Open access · greenAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
102citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
7.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

102 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 149 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Article
  8. Lifetime adversity exposure, mood symptoms, and immune mitochondrial bioenergetics.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Longitudinal associations between father- and mother-child interactions, coparenting, and child cardiometabolic health.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2026
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Measuring early experiences: Challenges and future directions.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2025
    Review
  20. Article

42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Kate R KuhlmanDepartment of Psychology & Social Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, United States; Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States. Electronic address: krkuhl@uci.edu.
Sarah R HornDepartment of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, United States.
Jessica J ChiangDepartment of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60201, United States.
Julienne E BowerCousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States; Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States.
Salk Institute for Biological Studies · USNorthwestern University · USUniversity of Oregon · US

Funding

Behavioral and inflammatory responses to stress: Implications for depression in youth exposed to adversityK08MH112773 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI KUHLMAN, KATE RYAN · 2017 to 2021
$862k
NIMH NIH HHS K08 MH112773
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study provides a comprehensive review of the published research on the association between early life adversity and markers of inflammation in children and adolescents. We conducted a systematic review of the published literature on the association between early life adversity and markers of inflammation in pediatric populations. To date, 27 studies have been published in this area representing a wide range of global populations and diverse methods of which nearly half were prospective, longitudinal studies. Of these 27, only 12 studies shared an inflammatory outcome with 4 or more other studies; 9 for CRP, and 6 for IL-6. The association between early life adversity and both CRP, z = .07 [.04, .10], and IL-6, z = .17 [-.07, .42], were small and only significant for CRP although comparable in magnitude to the effects observed in adult samples. Descriptively, the association between early life adversity and CRP appeared to be stronger in studies conducted in infants and adolescents compared with middle childhood. There was minimal evidence of publication bias for studies measuring CRP, but evidence of publication bias for studies using IL-6. Eight studies have looked at the association between early life adversity and stimulated inflammatory cytokines in vitro, and both the methods and results of these studies were mixed; the majority observed exaggerated production of inflammatory cytokines despite mixed methodological approaches that make comparisons across studies difficult. In summary, the evidence supporting an association between early life adversity and inflammation in pediatric samples is limited so far by the number of studies and their heterogeneous methodological approaches. More research that is grounded in a developmental framework and informed by the complexity of the innate immune system is needed in this area.

Indexed as

Adverse Childhood ExperiencesAdolescentBiomarkersChildC-Reactive ProteinCytokinesHumansInflammationProspective StudiesBiomarkersC-Reactive ProteinCytokinesAdolescentsChildhoodEarly life adversityInflammationMeta-analysis

Identifiers

PMID30999015
PMCPMC8211400
OpenAlexW2938440002

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.