Positive coping supports children’s emotional wellness: Behavioral evidence and neuroendocrine mechanisms

Abstract A positive coping style is recognized as a stable disposition to foster emotional wellness and resilience, enabling an adaptive process of assessing and dealing with environmental challenges. Such an adaptive process is believed to rely on a nuanced interplay of the hippocampal system and the primary stress hormone cortisol activity. As a hallmark of diurnal cortisol rhythm, cortisol awakening response (CAR) is sensitive to upcoming stress and subserves the preparation of the hippocampal system for rapid behavioral adaption. Yet, little is known about how the hippocampal system and CAR contribute to the merit of positive coping on emotional wellness. By two studies, we investigate the effects of positive coping on children’s emotional wellness and CAR, as well as longitudinal changes in hippocampal-neocortical functional systems involved in emotional processing. Behaviorally, positive coping predicted better emotional regulation ability, but lower anxiety and lower response caution in emotional decision-making. At the endocrine and neurocognitive level, positive coping was associated with greater CAR, which further predicted higher connectivity of the hippocampus with ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and stimulus-sensitive neocortex one year later. Furthermore, CAR mediated an indirect association between positive coping and longitudinal increases in hippocampal-neocortical connectivity. Positive coping and CAR together could account for the maturity of vlPFC through longitudinal changes in hippocampal-neocortical connectivity. Overall, our findings suggest a cognitive-neuroendocrinal framework in which positive coping shapes hippocampal-neocortical maturation via stress hormone response to support emotional wellness. Significance The role of the hippocampal system in regulating stress response is well recognized, but its contribution to emotional well-being is not yet understood. Here we show that the protective effects of positive coping on emotional well-being are contingent on two factors: the cortisol awakening response (CAR), which is sensitive to upcoming stress, and hippocampal development. We found that positive coping practices promoted emotional wellness, enhanced emotional decision-making and increased CAR in young children. Longitudinal neuroimaging analysis revealed that positive coping-related CAR predicted greater hippocampal connectivity with stimulus-sensitive neocortex one year later. Importantly, CAR acted as a mediator of the promotive influence of positive coping on the longitudinal development of hippocampal-neocortical connectivity, which contributed to the maturity of prefrontal control systems. Our findings emphasize the importance of hippocampal-neocortical development in resilient coping and emotional wellness.