Literature Review: Childhood Adversity and Sex-Differentiated Brain-Body Development in Adolescence as Two Pathways Shaping Immune Dysregulation and Health Across the Lifespan
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Childhood and adolescence represent two sensitive periods that determine biological health trajectories across the lifespan. This literature review integrates two prior studies: (1) a review on stressful early life experiences and immune dysregulation across the lifespan, and (2) a review on sex differences in adolescent brain and body structure from the Saguenay Youth Study. The aim of this synthesis is to examine how childhood adversity and sex-related biological differences during puberty jointly shape vulnerability to immune dysregulation, mental health disorders, and chronic disease in adulthood. Synthesis findings indicate that both pathways interact through shared mechanisms such as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, glucocorticoid sensitivity, and low-grade inflammation. Females who experience childhood adversity show patterns of emotional and inflammatory vulnerability that differ from males, in part due to differences in cortical maturation and hormonal changes during puberty. This literature review concludes that an approach integrating psychoneuroimmunology and sex-sensitive developmental neuroscience is necessary to comprehensively understand how early life experiences shape later health.
