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Developmental change in infants' responses to stress

M Lewis1, D S Ramsay

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Brunswick 08903-0019, USA.

Child Development
|June 1, 1995
PubMed

Insights

Infant stress responses, measured by cortisol levels, decrease with age between 2 and 6 months. Individual stress response patterns become more stable during this developmental period.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental psychology
  • Pediatric endocrinology
  • Infant stress physiology

Background:

  • Infant stress responses to medical procedures are common.
  • Understanding developmental changes in these responses is crucial for pediatric care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To longitudinally examine infant stress responses to a physical examination and inoculation.
  • To investigate developmental shifts in adrenocortical functioning and response stability between 2 and 6 months of age.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal observation of infant stress responses at 2, 4, and 6 months.
  • Measurement of cortisol levels as a biomarker for stress.
  • Assessment of behavioral responses alongside physiological measures.

Main Results:

  • Cortisol levels and stress responses generally decreased with infant age.
  • Increased stability in individual cortisol and behavioral responses was observed between 4 and 6 months.
  • Diurnal variation in baseline cortisol was evident only at 6 months.

Conclusions:

  • A developmental shift in adrenocortical functioning occurs between 2 and 6 months of age.
  • Individual stress response patterns show increasing stability during this period.
  • While some infants exhibit stress-related cortisol decreases, this pattern is not consistently maintained across ages.

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