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Published on: December 18, 2013
Children's noncompliance during saliva collection predicts measures of salivary cortisol
Marsha Kaitz1, Reut Sabato, Idan Shalev
1Department of Psychology Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel. msmarsha@mscc.huji.ac.il
Insights
Preschoolers' noncompliance during saliva collection can affect stress hormone (cortisol) measurements. Noncompliant children may show higher cortisol levels and behavioral issues, impacting research accuracy.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Stress Physiology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Salivary cortisol is used to assess children's stress responses.
- Previous studies show inconsistent results, necessitating investigation into sources of variance.
- Understanding factors influencing cortisol measurement accuracy in children is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of noncompliance in preschoolers during saliva collection.
- To investigate the relationship between noncompliance and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function.
- To explore behavioral characteristics and problem symptoms of noncompliant children.
Main Methods:
- Measured salivary cortisol levels in preschoolers.
- Observed children's behavior during saliva collection and a teaching interaction.
- Assessed problem behaviors using parent and teacher ratings.
- Analyzed data to compare compliant and noncompliant children.
Main Results:
- 12% of preschoolers exhibited noncompliance during at least one saliva collection attempt.
- Noncompliant children (without outright refusal) showed higher cortisol levels than compliant children.
- Noncompliance during collection predicted noncompliance in a teaching task and was linked to internalizing symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Children's noncompliance during saliva collection is a significant factor.
- Noncompliance can introduce nonrandom missing data or extreme cortisol values in studies.
- Researchers should account for noncompliance to ensure accurate interpretation of salivary cortisol data in children.
Abstract:
Salivary cortisol has been useful for evaluating children's physiological responses to stress and for identifying factors that predict their magnitude and duration. However, results have been somewhat equivocal across studies, and this has motivated researchers to identify sources of variance and error. Here, we examined the prevalence of preschoolers' noncompliance during saliva collection and aimed to learn about noncompliant children in terms of their hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal function, behavior in other situations, and symptoms of behavioral problems. Results were based on measures of cortisol, children's behavior during saliva collection and a mother-child teaching interaction, and ratings of problem behavior by teachers and parents. Results show that 12% (21/174) of the sample was noncompliant on at least one of the collection trials. Children, who were noncompliant but did not outright refuse saliva collection, had higher cortisol than did compliant children. Children who were noncompliant during saliva collection were likely to be noncompliant during the teaching episode, and they were perceived as having more internalizing symptoms than compliant children. These results suggest that children's noncompliance during saliva collection can be a source of nonrandom missing data or extreme cortisol values, which should be considered in future studies.
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