Abstract:

Individuals experiencing early life stress (ELS) are at a higher risk of mental/behavioral disorders such as depression and violence, the difficulties of emotion regulation might be one of the underlying mechanisms. ELS individuals use maladaptive strategies (such as avoidance and rumination) more frequently than normal individuals. And most of the studies found that ELS impaired the ability of emotion regulation. However, moderate ELS may enhance the ability of emotion regulation. Besides, emotion regulation moderated the relationship between ELS and mental/behavior disorders. Furthermore, we explored the neural mechanisms of how ELS influences emotion regulation. Finally, we made a summary and pointed out future directions.

Key words: early life stress, emotion regulation, reappraisal, prefrontal cortex, amygdala