Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2026
Collecting Saliva and Measuring Salivary Cortisol and Alpha-amylase in Frail Community Residing Older Adults via Family Caregivers
Published on: December 18, 2013
Comparisons between salivary cortisol levels in six-months-olds and their parents
Fredrik Stenius1, Töres Theorell, Gunnar Lilja
1Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Section of Pediatrics, Sachs' Children's Hospital, 118 83 Stockholm, Sweden. fredrik.stenius@sodersjukhuset.se
Insights
Maternal psychosocial environment influences infant cortisol. Mothers and infants show stronger cortisol correlations than fathers and infants, likely due to shared genetics and environment.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Developmental Psychology
- Human Behavior
Background:
- Infant psychosocial environment and maternal behavior perception are linked to infant cortisol levels.
- Previous research indicated a correlation between maternal and infant cortisol.
- This study expands on this by including paternal cortisol levels.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between parental and infant cortisol levels.
- To compare the mother-infant cortisol correlation with the father-infant cortisol correlation.
- To explore the influence of the psychosocial environment on these relationships.
Main Methods:
- Saliva cortisol samples collected from 51 six-month-old infants and their parents.
- Sampling occurred in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
- Cortisol levels analyzed using radioimmunoassay.
Main Results:
- Strong correlations observed between maternal and infant cortisol levels across all sampling times.
- Weaker correlations found between paternal and infant cortisol levels, particularly in afternoon and evening samples.
- A significant relationship was noted in the waking/bedtime cortisol difference between mothers and infants, but not fathers and infants.
Conclusions:
- Stronger mother-infant cortisol correlations suggest greater shared genetics and environmental exposure compared to father-infant dyads.
- Maternal caregiving environment significantly impacts infant cortisol regulation.
- Paternal influence on infant cortisol, while present, is less pronounced than maternal influence.
Background:
There is a close relation between the psychosocial environment of the infant--including the perception of maternal behaviour--and cortisol levels of the infant. One previous study has also demonstrated a correlation between mother and infant mean cortisol levels. In this study, this relation was further explored, also including father cortisol levels.
Methods:
Saliva cortisol samples were collected from 51 six-months-olds and their parents on the same day in the morning, afternoon and evening. Analyses were performed with a radioimmunoassay technique. All mothers were at home with their child at this age and 47/51 mothers were breast feeding.
Results:
Strong correlations were found between mother and child levels on all sampling occasions whereas weaker correlations were found between father and child levels and only in the afternoon and the evening samples. There was also a strong relation between waking up/bedtime-difference in mother and child and a weaker relation between the corresponding measure in father and child.
Conclusions:
The stronger mother-infant than father-infant cortisol level correlations probably mirror that mother and infant not only have genetic similarities but also have been exposed to similar environmental conditions to a higher degree than father and infant.
