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Examining infants' cortisol responses to laboratory tasks among children varying in attachment disorganization:

Kristin Bernard1, Mary Dozier

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. kbernard@psych.udel.edu

Developmental Psychology
|September 30, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Young children

Area of Science:

  • Developmental psychology
  • Neuroendocrinology
  • Child psychology

Background:

  • Cortisol, a key stress hormone, plays a crucial role in human stress responses.
  • Evidence regarding stress reactivity in young children remains inconsistent.
  • Understanding early life stress and its physiological correlates is vital.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate cortisol stress reactivity in young children using a laboratory-based paradigm.
  • To examine the influence of attachment disorganization on cortisol responses to different tasks.
  • To explore the potential buffering effects of maternal care on children's stress reactivity.

Main Methods:

  • Salivary cortisol samples collected at home and at multiple time points in the laboratory.
  • Counterbalanced laboratory tasks: Strange Situation and free play.
  • Piecewise hierarchical linear modeling used to analyze cortisol changes.

Main Results:

  • Disorganized infants exhibited cortisol increases in response to a stressor task compared to play.
  • Organized infants did not display significant cortisol reactivity to either task.
  • An interaction between attachment disorganization and task type influenced cortisol levels.

Conclusions:

  • Attachment disorganization is associated with heightened cortisol stress reactivity in young children.
  • Maternal care may play a buffering role in mitigating stress responses.
  • These findings contribute to understanding early socio-emotional development and stress regulation.

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