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Differences between Japanese infants and Caucasian American infants in behavioral and cortisol response to
M Lewis1, D S Ramsay, K Kawakami
1Institute for the Study of Child Development, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick 08903-0019.
Abstract:
The behavioral and cortisol responses of Japanese infants and Caucasian American infants, 4 months of age, were observed during and following routine inoculation. The Caucasian American group showed a more intense initial affective response and a longer latency to quiet than the Japanese group; the Japanese group showed a greater cortisol response. A 4-group taxonomy was created based on high or low behavioral and cortisol response: high behavior-high cortisol, low behavior-low cortisol, high behavior-low cortisol, and low behavior--high cortisol. There were significant differences between the 2 groups of infants using this taxonomy: Infants in the Caucasian American group were more likely to fall in the high behavior-low cortisol group, while infants in the Japanese group were more likely to fall in the low behavior-high cortisol group.