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Children's elevated cortisol levels at daycare: A review and meta-analysis
Abstract
We reviewed nine studies in which children's cortisol levels at center daycare were assessed. Our first hypothesis, concerning intraindividual differences in cortisol levels across home and daycare settings, was also tested in a meta-analysis. Our main finding was that at daycare children display higher cortisol levels compared to the home setting. Diurnal patterns revealed significant increases from morning to afternoon, but at daycare only. The combined effect size for seven pertinent studies (n = 303) was r = .18 (CI .06–.29, p = .003). We examined all papers on possible associations between cortisol levels and quality of care, and the influences of age, gender, and children's temperament. Age appeared to be the most significant moderator of this relation. It was shown that the effect of daycare attendance on cortisol excretion was especially notable in children younger than 36 months. We speculate that children in center daycare show elevated cortisol levels because of their stressful interactions in a group setting.
... We found that children's cortisol levels were elevated in childcare while following the expected diurnal decline at home. This suggests that toddlers are indeed slightly stressed in childcare Groeneveld et al., 2010;Legendre, 2003;Suhonen et al., 2018;Sumner et al., 2010;Tervahartiala et al., 2020;Vermeer & Van Ijzendoorn, 2006;Vermeer et al., 2010;Watamura et al., 2003). ...
... Children seem to experience the childcare environment differently than the home environment, and the childcare context may pose more challenges to young children (Vermeer & Van Ijzendoorn, 2006). The childcare context is characterized by separation from parents, the need to navigate interactions with peers and secondary caregivers, and likely a less individualized and more grouporiented type of caregiving (Tervahartiala et al., 2020). ...
... In fact, parents' presence has been observed to be a powerful regulator of the HPA axis (Gunnar & Donzella, 2002), and this may be especially true for securely attached children (Ahnert et al., 2004). In childcare, peer interactions may also elicit stress in toddlers, who are still learning to navigate social encounters and to regulate their feelings and behavior (Schore & Schore, 2008;Vermeer & Van Ijzendoorn, 2006). Caregivers may not always be effective in supporting children during such difficulties during the childcare day (Bjørnestad & Os, 2018;Os, 2013;Vermeer & Van Ijzendoorn, 2006). ...
... Assessing cortisol across the preschool day is particularly important given the atypical trajectory that may manifest in this context. Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn's (2006) meta-analysis demonstrated that, whereas basal cortisol levels typically decrease from midmorning to midafternoon, children in early childhood educational settings tend to show an increase across this period. The atypically elevated cortisol levels are thought to reflect the academic and social challenges of preschool, and greater elevations have been found in classrooms that score lower for dimensions of quality such as teacher-child interaction ( Gunnar, Kryzer, Van Ryzin & Phillips, 2010 ;Sajaniemi et al., 2011 ;Watamura, Kryzer & Robertson, 2009 ) as well as in regular classroom settings compared with small group settings such as 2 children and 2 adults ( Rappolt-Schlichtmann et al., 2009 ). ...
... Indeed, only a small number of studies have examined cortisol across the preschool day for children facing economic hardship. Although Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn's (2006) meta-analysis concluded that children tend to show atypical cortisol levels in preschool context, some research has suggested that children facing poverty risks may show a more typical diurnal trajectory in preschool ( Rappolt-Schlichtmann et al., 2009 ). The present findings match the conclusions of Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn (2006) as well as multiple more recent investigations (e.g., Lumian, Dmitrieva, Mendoza, Badanes & Watamura, 2016 ;Watamura et al., 2009 ) in suggesting that many children facing economic hardship show an atypical trajectory in preschool, with slight increases in cortisol from midmorning to afternoon. ...
... Although Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn's (2006) meta-analysis concluded that children tend to show atypical cortisol levels in preschool context, some research has suggested that children facing poverty risks may show a more typical diurnal trajectory in preschool ( Rappolt-Schlichtmann et al., 2009 ). The present findings match the conclusions of Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn (2006) as well as multiple more recent investigations (e.g., Lumian, Dmitrieva, Mendoza, Badanes & Watamura, 2016 ;Watamura et al., 2009 ) in suggesting that many children facing economic hardship show an atypical trajectory in preschool, with slight increases in cortisol from midmorning to afternoon. Cortisol levels documented in this study were similar to those reported by Lumian et al. (2016) and Watamura et al. (2009) for the time points shared in common. ...
Experiences of poverty and racism in early childhood can overburden physiological systems that respond to stress with implications for the development of the prefrontal cortex and related executive functioning. The present study is unique in its examination of basal cortisol output across the preschool day in relation to teacher ratings of executive functioning. Participants were 310 children attending Head Start preschool in the United States, a majority of whom were Black, Hispanic, or Asian Heritage. Salivary cortisol was sampled in duplicate at 4 times across 2 days near the beginning of the school year, resulting in a total of 16 samples per child. Several weeks later, the BRIEF-P teacher rating scale assessed various components of executive functioning. Zero-order correlations suggested that basal cortisol output across the preschool day related to each assessed component of executive functioning, as well as to composite scores. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicated that higher cortisol across the preschool day related to greater difficulties in overall teacher-reported executive functioning, controlling for child age, birth-assigned sex, race/ethnicity, and family income. Implications concern understanding the impact of stress on executive functioning in the preschool classroom and promoting positive outcomes for children facing adversity.
... Ordered naptime (in contrast to demand-driven naps by children themselves), however, is a common practice in center-based childcare centers of mediocre to low quality. Not surprisingly, past research linked rising cortisol levels after the naps in centers' afternoons to low childcare quality (Geoffroy et al., 2006;Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006). ...
... The HPA axis engages when children face unpredictable and/or uncontrollable challenges requiring anticipation, which still is developing in early childhood. Moreover, HPA axis in young children is exceptionally responsive if the challenges involve threat to the relationship with parents, and separation from them (Ahnert et al., 2004), as well as due to stressful peer interactions (Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006). Two metaanalyses have shown that the effect of childcare on cortisol was less prevalent during children's first compared to their second year of life (Geoffroy et al., 2006;Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006). ...
... Moreover, HPA axis in young children is exceptionally responsive if the challenges involve threat to the relationship with parents, and separation from them (Ahnert et al., 2004), as well as due to stressful peer interactions (Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006). Two metaanalyses have shown that the effect of childcare on cortisol was less prevalent during children's first compared to their second year of life (Geoffroy et al., 2006;Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006). In fact, little stress research has been conducted in children aged between 12 and 36 months; and only very rarely is research on children's diurnal cortisol based on repeated measures spread out from morning over afternoon to evening and bedtime, comparing the cortisol measures at home and in childcare (c.f., Groeneveld et al., 2010;Sumner et al., 2010). ...
Four saliva probes were collected per day from 104 children (10 to 35 months old) transitioning from home (T0) to childcare across a four-month period (until T3), resulting in over one thousand cortisol values. Latent Profile Analysis classified three profiles within a regular spectrum of children’s cortisol rhythms and described a fourth hypocortisol stress profile. Further Latent Transition Analysis revealed that profiles frequently changed across the transition but stabilized at T3. Most importantly, regular profiles across transition most likely
occurred with high AQS scores of mother-child and care provider–child attachment. A machine learning procedure (XGBoost) featured predictors for stress profiles at T3 (when the child ought to be adjusted and stress profiles should be rare) referring to characteristics
of the children (e.g., gender, number of siblings, peer contact before entry), the mothers (their worries), the care providers (their work experience, engagement, attachment) and the groups in the childcare centers (e.g., size, age differences, illness frequency). As a result,
experience with siblings and peers before entry facilitated the transition. However, most conditions not linearly affecting children’s cortisol revealed even opposite effects when analyzed at different times. For example, smaller group size and large age-differences at T1
helped the child to stabilize a Regular profile, perhaps due to better control over the situation and greater support from the older children in the group. At T3, however, Regular profiles were associated with larger group size and smaller age-differences which might be
helpful for establishing close peer relationships to buffer stress.
... Cortisol levels rise if one perceives a situation as overly demanding and socially threatening (Gunnar and Quevedo, 2007). Elevated cortisol levels may indicate social stress (Vermeer and Vanijzendoorn, 2006). Vermeer and Vanijzendoorn (2006) speculated that the high level of cortisol in children who attend center-based care is related to the stressful conditions of the group setting. ...
... Elevated cortisol levels may indicate social stress (Vermeer and Vanijzendoorn, 2006). Vermeer and Vanijzendoorn (2006) speculated that the high level of cortisol in children who attend center-based care is related to the stressful conditions of the group setting. In addition, the evidence suggests that toddlers tend to show higher levels of cortisol in childcare compared with other age groups (Vermeer and Vanijzendoorn, 2006). ...
... Vermeer and Vanijzendoorn (2006) speculated that the high level of cortisol in children who attend center-based care is related to the stressful conditions of the group setting. In addition, the evidence suggests that toddlers tend to show higher levels of cortisol in childcare compared with other age groups (Vermeer and Vanijzendoorn, 2006). ...
There are contrasting results of the association between center-based care attendance and child development, mainly related to how the time of entry and permanence in the program relates to developmental outcomes. Using latent class analysis in a nationally representative sample of Chilean children between 6 and 35months old (n=3,992), and controlling for the child’s age, maternal education, mother’s marital status, and household income, we identify three different timings of entrance in center-based care programs. The three timings of entrance were defined as early-entry (16%), those children who are more likely to enter before they are 6months old; middle-entry (16%), those who are more likely to enter when they are between 6 and 18months old; and late-entry (68%), those children with a low probability of enrollment any time before they are 35months old. We found that children from the early- and middle-entry classes had higher language development when compared with children from the late-entry class. Still, only those from the middle-entry class showed higher general development in the Battelle test. In contrast, children in the early- and middle-entry classes presented higher scores in the Child Behavior Checklist’s externalizing behavior scale than children in the late-entry class. Our findings highlight the existence of a likely linkage between the timing of entry to center-based care and child development. It is essential to understand the potential advantages of center-based care in younger children, especially in enhancing their vocabulary and general development, and the potential negative association of early-entry with problematic behavior.
... Measuring the stress hormone cortisol in saliva may give an indication of children's experience in childcare (Vermeer & Van Ijzendoorn, 2006) which in turn can inform how to adjust childcare practice to meet children's needs in better ways. One-and two-year-old children (toddlers) have shown elevated levels of cortisol when in childcare compared to home (Drugli et al., 2018;Groeneveld et al., 2010;Legendre, 2003;Sumner et al., 2010;Watamura et al., 2003). ...
... One-and two-year-old children (toddlers) have shown elevated levels of cortisol when in childcare compared to home (Drugli et al., 2018;Groeneveld et al., 2010;Legendre, 2003;Sumner et al., 2010;Watamura et al., 2003). Meta-analytic evidence suggests that they do so more than other age groups (Vermeer & Van Ijzendoorn, 2006). ...
... The HPA axis releases additional cortisol if an overly demanding situation is encountered. Rising cortisol levels are recognized as an indicator of social stress (Vermeer & Van Ijzendoorn, 2006). ...
Elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol have been found in toddlers in childcare. Measuring cortisol may provide an indication of children’s experiences in childcare and help to adjust practices better to their needs. To the best of our knowledge, toddlers’ cortisol levels in childcare have not yet been investigated longitudinally. Furthermore, it is unclear which child and childcare factors contribute to cortisol elevation in toddlers. Using linear mixed model analyses, we investigated the full-day cortisol activity (10.00 h, 15.00 h, 18.00 h) of 156 toddlers (81 female, 56 male) during a year in childcare (September, January, June). We also investigated child cortisol levels at home in January. In addition, we tested the relation between cortisol activity and changes in cortisol activity across the year and childcare quality, temperament, well-being in childcare, and maternal education. We found increasing evening cortisol levels through the year while controlling for age. Afternoon cortisol levels were stable, but above morning cortisol levels in September and January and only slightly below morning cortisol levels in June. At home in January, afternoon levels were significantly below morning levels. Higher well-being in childcare was associated with lower overall cortisol levels and less increase in evening cortisol levels through the year in childcare. Further, less active toddlers seemed to accumulate some stress during the childcare day, indicated by higher evening cortisol levels. Rising evening cortisol levels may indicate accumulating stress across the year. Results point toward childcare being demanding for toddlers and their need for consideration from caregivers and parents, also after a longer period of childcare attendance. The findings underline the importance of observing, promoting, and further researching children’s well-being in childcare.
... More specifically, influences of daycare on EF only emerged for individuals with SBN and showed that daycare attendance related to more perseveration across tasks overall. This replicated other research with a behavioural approach and SES that showed that attendance at daycare centres entails a decrease in the effortful control and child self-regulation, an increase in cortisol levels and externalizing and maladaptive behaviours (Burger, 2010;NICHD, 2000;Vermeer & van Ijzendoorn, 2006). This could be because in this age range infants have not yet developed the required level of linguistic, social and self-regulatory skills to face demanding interaction situations, where they cannot get what they want directly (Vermeer & van Ijzendoorn, 2006). ...
... This replicated other research with a behavioural approach and SES that showed that attendance at daycare centres entails a decrease in the effortful control and child self-regulation, an increase in cortisol levels and externalizing and maladaptive behaviours (Burger, 2010;NICHD, 2000;Vermeer & van Ijzendoorn, 2006). This could be because in this age range infants have not yet developed the required level of linguistic, social and self-regulatory skills to face demanding interaction situations, where they cannot get what they want directly (Vermeer & van Ijzendoorn, 2006). ...
... En concreto, solo se observaron impactos de la asistencia a un centro infantil en las FE en individuos con NBS y que esta asistencia estaba relacionada con un mayor número de perseveraciones en todas las tareas. Estos resultados reflejan los de otras investigaciones desde una perspectiva conductual y el NSE, en los que se observó que la asistencia a un centro infantil implica un decremento en el control dificultoso y la autorregulación infantil, y un incremento en los niveles de cortisol y la externalización de conductas inadaptadas (Burger, 2010;NICHD, 2000;Vermeer & van Ijzendoorn, 2006). Esto podría deberse a que, a estas edades, los niños todavía no han desarrollado el nivel lingüístico, social y de auto regulación necesario para enfrentar situaciones de interacción complejas, en las que no pueden obtener directamente lo que quieren (Vermeer & van Ijzendoorn, 2006). ...
Several studies have analysed the impact of attending early childhood education centres on communication, regulatory skills and social-emotional development. These educational institutions have increased in presence annually, partially due to the access of women to the labour market. It has been found that infant education may modulate development in vulnerable contexts (typically associated with negative cognitive outcomes), although the results are contradictory. We presented a study that evaluated Latin American dyads of mothers–infants aged 18 to 24 months regarding the influence of infant education and social vulnerability on Executive Functions (EF) and Communication Skills (CS). To address these goals, toddlers completed several EF tasks and the Early Social Communication Scales. Parents completed the Socioeconomic Level Scale from INDEC. Results revealed that social vulnerability was associated with both EF and CS, daycare attendance was positively related to CS and finally, the contribution of daycare varied by SES on EF. These findings highlight the importance of considering infant education and socioeconomic status to generate equal opportunities from the first months of life.
... Although cortisol is more recognized as a stress biomarker, this hormone is responsible for activating alert mechanisms in the face of the challenges that the awake period entails (learning, socializing, etc.) and contributes to the sleep-wake rhythm in early childhood [16]. Some studies have addressed the relationship between daytime napping and cortisol variations with varied aims, such as examining whether CAR occurred from nap awakening to approximately half an hour later [3,12]; comparing cortisol levels before and after a morning or afternoon nap [27][28][29]; and analyzing whether diurnal cortisol patterns were altered when a nap was taken or not [23,24]. The results of these studies were inconsistent, and when analyzed individually, they do not allow us to conclude how napping can influence cortisol levels in different periods of time throughout the day. ...
... The full texts of the identified studies were examined, and the following data were extracted by two reviewers: (1) name of the first author, (2) year of publication, (3) country, (4) study design, (5) participants' ages, (6) proportion of females among the participants, (7) number of participants, (8) type of measurement used to assess napping data, and (9) confounding variables included in the analysis, if any. Data on cortisol levels at different time points were extracted from figures when they were not available in tables or in the text [4,12,23,24,27,29]. Therefore, it was not necessary to contact the authors of the studies because the data required for the meta-analyses carried out could be obtained from the included articles. ...
... Specifically, cortisol values were pooled when available for infants < 1 and > 1 year of age [3], for two consecutive days [21], for mandatory and flexible naps [23], and for children 12, 13, 18, 30, and 36 months of age [28]. In studies for which cortisol values were available in different settings, times of the day, or groups, we used the data from the following situations: "prekindergarten" [4], "baseline and morning nap" [8], "first study" [12], "morning nap" [24], and "nonproblem nappers" [27]. ...
Cortisol levels are implicated in emotional and cognitive development in children. However, it is not clear whether daytime napping influences cortisol levels in early childhood. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the available evidence regarding the association between daytime napping and salivary cortisol in early childhood. The Medline, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Collaboration databases were searched for observational and experimental studies reporting data about napping behavior and salivary cortisol in children 0–5 years of age. Salivary cortisol levels were analyzed in three situations: CAR, cortisol awakening response from nap awakening; PRE-POST, before and after a daytime nap; and DIURNAL, from morning awakening to bedtime. Five studies showed a significant CAR after napping (mean difference, MD: 0.11μg/mL; 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.04, 0.18). In the PRE-POST analysis, a small decrease was observed for at-home naps (MD: -0.05 μg/mL; 95% CI: − 0.09, − 0.02) but not for at-childcare naps (MD: 0.04 μg/mL; 95% CI: − 0.01, 0.09). A similar pattern of DIURNAL salivary cortisol decrease was observed when children took a nap (MD: − 0.34 μg/mL; 95% CI: − 0.41, − 0.28) and when they did not sleep during the day (MD: − 0.28 μg/mL; 95% CI: − 0.38, − 0.19).
Conclusions: Daytime napping plays a minor role in the fluctuation of salivary cortisol levels during the day. The conditions of the home or the childcare environment under which napping occurs might have a greater influence on cortisol levels than daytime napping itself in early childhood. PROSPERO Identifier: CRD42020212249. What is Known:
• The regulation of sleep involves circadian rhythmicity of cortisol secretion via activation of the HPA axis and a subsequent release of cortisol upon morning awakening followed by a decline throughout the day.
What is New:
• The available evidence supports the occurrence of a cortisol awakening response after a daytime nap.
• A small decrease in cortisol after napping was observed when the nap occurred at home but not at childcare.
• The conditions of the home or childcare environment under which the nap occurs and the activities before and after napping may have a greater influence on cortisol levels than napping itself.
... Measuring the levels of the stress hormone cortisol may give an indication of children's experience in childcare, hence forming a method to research these transitions systematically (Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn 2006). Measuring cortisol levels can help in understanding a toddler's perception of transition to childcare in greater detail and may enable us to better adjust practices to meet children's needs. ...
... Cortisol levels rise if one perceives a situation to be overly demanding and socially threatening (Gunnar and Quevedo 2007). Elevated levels of cortisol may be an indicator of social stress (Kirschbaum et al. 1990;Kirschbaum and Hellhammer 1994;Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn 2006), and hence, measuring cortisol may be a suitable method to evaluate children's experiences in childcare. ...
... A meta-analysis by Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn (2006) suggested that toddlers tend to show higher levels of cortisol in childcare when compared with them being at home, and they do so more than other age groups. This finding has been supported in further studies (Bernard et al. 2015;Drugli et al. 2018;Groeneveld et al. 2010;Ouellet-Morin et al. 2010;Sumner, Bernard, and Dozier 2010;Vermeer et al. 2010). ...
In toddlers, the transition from home to childcare might elicit high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Measuring cortisol may give an indicator for children’s experience and hence, may help improve this transition. We applied linear mixed model analyses to investigate the cortisol levels of 119 toddlers during their transition to childcare across time of day (morning, afternoon, and evening) and phase (accompanied by parents, separated from parents, and after four to six weeks in childcare). The influence of age, gender, number of siblings, and childcare group size was analyzed. Time of day and phase influenced cortisol levels significantly. On average, children had elevated cortisol levels in the afternoon throughout transition, with the peak coming in the separation phase. Cortisol levels declined significantly toward the evening. Children younger than 14 months showed higher evening levels and higher afternoon levels after 4–6 weeks in childcare. The findings suggest that the onset of childcare – particularly separation from parents – may be demanding for toddlers. Low evening levels indicate relief of tension at home. Higher levels of afternoon cortisol of under 14-months-old children at the follow-up measurement may indicate that younger children need more time to settle in at childcare.
... However, because children undergo very rapid developmental changes during the preschool and early school years, especially in their capacity for self-regulation (Carlson et al., 2013;Zelazo and Carlson, 2012), conclusions from studies on the transitions to daycare cannot be presumed to apply to the transition to elementary school. Notably, rapid u-shaped age-related differences have been reported in children's stress reaction associated with childcare attendance during the infant, preschool and early school age: Those children most likely to show an increased physiological stress reaction (as assessed through midmorning to mid-afternoon patterns of salivary cortisol) during childcare compared to home are aged between 3 and 5 years, compared to both younger (3 to 24 mo.) and older children (6 to 9 years) (Bernard et al., 2015;Geoffroy et al., 2006;Vermeer and Van Ijzendoorn, 2006). Further, because the elementary school environment includes novel characteristics compared to childcare settings (e.g. ...
... In short, reliable conclusions regarding the most likely predictors of individual differences in cortisol concentration increases from pre-to post-transition or in the extent of recovery are yet to come, as different studies have examined different predictors, typically using small sample size, with very few replications. Yet, in line with some childcare studies (Geoffroy et al., 2006;Tarullo et al., 2011;Vermeer and Van Ijzendoorn, 2006), two dimensions of child temperament were found to predict a greater increase in cortisol concentration or a slower recovery, in both SCC and HCC: A shy, inhibited or fearful temperament and its opposite, high surgency/extroversion. Possible moderators (e.g. ...
... Center-based child care attendance is in some studies associated with less favorable social-emotional outcomes than homebased child care, although differences are small ( Burchinal, 1999 ;Coley, Votruba-Drzal, Miller, & Koury, 2013 ;Loeb, Bridges, Bassok, Fuller, & Rumberger, 20 07 ;NICHD, 20 03 ;Vandell, 20 04 ;Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006 ). In addition, the evidence is equivocal, because other studies did not find an association between type of care and children's social-emotional development ( Gordon, Colaner, Usdansky, & Melgar, 2013 ;Votruba-Drzal, Coley, & Chase-Lansdale, 2004 ). ...
... Our finding that children in home-based child care have slightly higher levels of well-being is in line with previous studies (see Burchinal, 1999 ;Coley et al., 2013 ;Loeb et al., 2007 ;NICHD, 2003 ;Vandell, 2004 ;Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006 ); some studies reported nonsignificant differences ( Gordon et al., 2013 ;Votruba-Drzal et al., 2004 ). Although home-based child care may not offer an optimal physical environment ( Dowsett et al., 2008 ;Li-Grining & Coley, 2006 ; this study), its favorable structural characteristics like smaller group size, the caregiver-child ratio and caregiver stability may contribute to the relatively high levels of emotional support and closeness in caregiver-child relationships, which in turn influence social-emotional functioning of young children in Dutch home-based care settings. ...
This study compares process quality and child functioning in Dutch center-based care and home-based care and explores the role of the dyadic caregiver-child relationship. Participants in this study included 228 children from 74 locations (154 attending center-based child care, 74 home-based child care; mean age 2.5 years). The level of emotional and behavioral support and caregiver-child closeness was higher in home-based care than center-based care, whereas quality of the physical environment was higher in center-based child care. Children's well-being was higher and levels of problem behavior were lower in home-based care compared to center-based care. The caregiver-child relationship was related to a higher level of well-being and less problem behavior. Process quality was more strongly related to children's functioning in home-based child care compared to center-based child care. The dyadic relationship quality is an important element of the care ecology of preschool children and predicts child functioning in both home-based and center-based care.
... Spending time in early childhood care may also have an impact on children's cortisol levels. In studies with mixed or middle-income samples, children exhibit higher cortisol levels in daycare or preschool compared to at home, with a diurnal pattern that includes an atypical increase from midmorning to midafternoon (Dettling et al., 2000;Gunnar & Cheatham, 2003;Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006). Rappolt-Schlichtmann et al. (2009) did not find the same effect for children from low-income families. ...
This study examines the impact of visual arts activities on the neurophysiological stress response and observed interest in the early education classroom. The aim of this study was to confirm results from past investigations showing that visual arts classes relate to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and greater observed interest in young children facing economic hardship and to expand on these findings by examining the effects of individual visual arts activities on cortisol and observed interest in comparison to other preschool activities. Participants were 74 children, ages 3–5 years, who attended a Head Start preschool and were randomly assigned to participate in different schedules of arts and homeroom classes. Children were video recorded in preschool classes and a well-validated observational system was applied to measure observed interest. Children provided saliva samples at multiple times of the day and immunoassays tested the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicated that children showed greater interest and lower levels of cortisol in visual arts classes compared to all other preschool classes. Results also showed that child participation in painting and drawing tables was associated with greater interest, as was participation at the teacher art table, with no significant effect for the clay table. Of the four visual arts activities examined in this study, only the teacher art table was associated with lower cortisol levels. Teacher involvement may be a key factor in the effects of visual art on both stress and interest.
... El autor considera que los/as niños/as con temperamento difícil son más susceptibles a las influencias ambientales positivas y negativas (Belsky, 2005;Belsky y Pluess, 2009; Torres Gómez de Cádiz y González, 2014). La susceptibilidad diferencial se asocia con las interacciones genes-ambiente, ya que su base se encuentra en el temperamento y en los factores genéticos (Vermeer y Van Ijzendoorn, 2006), sin embargo, las influencias genéticas sobre la seguridad del apego van de modestas a inexistentes (Bokhorst et al., 2003;O'Connor y Croft, 2001;Roisman y Fraley, 2008). ...
Este capítulo enfatiza en la necesidad de colocar el enfoque sociocultural
construccionista de la sexualidad en el ámbito de la educación
superior en México. En forma sucinta, la aproximación socio-construccionista
de la sexualidad considera el contexto histórico y cultural
en el cual las personas confieren significados e interpretan todo
aquello que consideran “sexual”. Estos significados son expresados
a través de ideas, mitos, imaginarios, rituales, prejuicios y valores,
y son materializados en prácticas, actos y actitudes. La sexualidad
constituye un proceso dinámico e histórico –no es lo mismo la
sexualidad entre los antiguos griegos que en la sociedad cabileña estudiada
por Bourdieu (2000).
... year (Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006). For caregivers, the average job length of pedagogues and teachers has fallen dramatically, and staff-per-child ratios are dropping. ...
Virtual designs of parenting educations and trainings are growing, offering the opportunity of a global outreach to improve infant mental health. How can quality care practices be defined and implemented? This chapter presents the design of a global blended learning intervention by the Danish Fairstart Foundation . Partnering with local NGOs and government agencies worldwide. 750 partner staff in 36 countries have been educated, and have trained the local caregivers of 65.000 high-risk children in attachment-based daily care and learning. The text is intended to inspire the further development of online classrooms, to upscale mental health intervention programs.
... Initial attachment bonds are formed during infancy, and changes to ECEC settings during this time may have long-lasting implications on a child's ability to form secure attachments. Toddlers, in particular, are likely to have high levels of cortisol while at ECEC (Vermeer & Van IJzendoorn, 2006). Research has shown that chronic levels of high cortisol in children can affect their attention, emotional regulation, and behavioural outcomes (Blair, 2010;Blair & Raver, 2014). ...
Instability in early childhood education and care (ECEC) arrangements may have detrimental consequences on children’s mental health. This study examined ECEC trajectories in the first 30 months of life for 373 children from low-income families in Toronto. We provide information about patterns of instability and reasons for instability. We also tested whether instability in ECEC was related to children’s mental health using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Five main profiles of ECEC stability were identified: (1) 8% in Home-Only, (2) 56.3% in Home-Center, (3) 8.0% in Home-Center-Home, (4) 5.9% in In-and-Out, and (5) 20.9% in Home-Multiple-Centers. Frequently mentioned reasons for change were a new baby in the family, availability of grandparents, quality of ECEC and family relocation. Families in these different profiles had similar demographic characteristics. Of the five profiles, children in the Home-Center-Home profile had a significantly higher likelihood of experiencing mental health problems compared to the Home-Center and Home-Multiple-Centers groups. These findings have important implications for future research, policy and practice related to ECEC availability.
... A pressing question for ECE researchers, practitioners, and policymakers is whether early education can disrupt the effects of poverty and related risks on young children's HPA-axis activity, thereby reducing the allostatic load of poverty places on early development Obradović & Armstrong-Carter, 2020;Vermeer & IJzendoorn, 2006). A small number of studies have addressed this question (Blair & Raver, 2014;Brotman et al., 2011), and just one published study has examined the effects of early music education on the HPA-axis activity of young children in poverty. ...
Access to high‐quality early music education programs may mitigate the effects of poverty on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, but fundamental questions remain about the role of early educators in conveying these benefits. In the current study, we measured the basal or resting cortisol levels of 76 children ( M age = 4.17 years; 42% female) over the course of the school day while they attended a Head Start preschool that included early music education classes. The results of a series of hierarchical linear models (HLMs) indicated that child‐directed music and movement activities during these classes were associated with lower levels of cortisol (relative to teacher‐directed activities; B = −0.019, p = .013), as were higher quality teacher–child interactions ( B = −0.018, p = .013); both associations were moderated by child age. We discuss the implications of these results for future educational neuroscience research that seeks to inform early education programs for young children placed at risk by poverty.
... In childcare, cortisol levels are found to have an atypical development, in that they are somewhat higher in the afternoon as compared to the morning. This primarily applies to toddlers (Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn, 2006;Sumner et al., 2010;Tervahartiala et al., 2021), and is also found in Norwegian childcare centers (Drugli et al., 2018;Nystad et al., 2022). ...
Introduction
Enrolling in childcare represents the first transition in toddlers’ lives and lays the foundation for their well-being in childcare centers going forward. Child cortisol levels may be an indicator of how toddlers themselves experience their introduction to childcare. In the present study, we explored changes in toddler cortisol levels during their first month in childcare and at a 3-month follow-up, as well as the perceptions of parents and professional caregivers regarding the toddlers’ settling-in process during the same period.
Method
This study used a mixed-method design. Saliva samples were collected from 113 toddlers and their cortisol levels analyzed. Qualitative notes were collected from parents (n = 87) and professional caregivers (n = 101). The data were analyzed using linear mixed model and thematic analyses, respectively.
Results
Changes in toddler cortisol levels and their parents’ and professional caregivers’ perceptions of the transition process fit well. Both data sources indicated an easy start in childcare when parents were present, while the first weeks separated from parents seemed quite demanding. After 3 months, the cortisol levels returned to a low level, while child well-being was perceived as high.
Discussion
Toddlers need time to adapt to childcare settings. Even if they are well taken care of by their keyworkers during the day, many toddlers are tired and exhausted in the evenings at home, particularly in the first weeks of separation from their parents. Both professional caregivers and parents should be aware of toddlers’ need for emotional support during their transition to childcare.
... In Bezug auf die Wirkung struktureller Merkmale der Kindertagesstätten zeigten bishe rige Studien, dass insbesondere eine außerfami liäre Betreuung in kleineren Gruppen positive Auswirkungen auf das Wohlbefinden und So zialverhalten der Kinder sowie auf die Fachkraft KindBindung hat (Ahnert, Pinquart & Lamb, 2006;Vermeer & van Ijzendoorn, 2006). Wei terhin zeigten sich verschiedentlich auch ein niedriger FachkraftKindSchlüssel und das Gruppenkonzept (mit tendenziell positiven Out comes für offene Gruppenarbeit) mit positiven kindlichen Entwicklungsoutcomes wie kogniti ven und sozialen Kompetenzen assoziiert (Howes, 1997;NICHD Early Child Care Research Net work, 2002;Tietze et al., 2013 ...
Interaction of family risk and child care as well as early child care providers’ characteristics on toddlers’ social-emotional problems: Relevance for promoting resilience in kindergarten
... year (Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006). For caregivers, the average job length of pedagogues and teachers has fallen dramatically, and staff-per-child ratios are dropping. ...
Global migration and urbanization stress parents, their family networks, compromise mental health, and has caused 153 million children to become orphans. Thus, the development of low-cost, large scale interventions to empower local mental health professionals is imminent. By developing a combination of local and scientific research in partner cultures, and combining local start-up seminars followed by six-month classrooms for students, the Fairstart Foundation has educated 700 staff in 28 countries as instructors, who have trained local caregiver and high-risk parent groups for six months each, in attachment-based daily care practices.
Based on these experiences, the chapter provides a meta-analysis of how three family cultures (developed in evolution) are affected: former hunter-gatherer families, former extended families, and present day urban families.
Intercultural definitions of sequential stress, trauma, resilience and Post-Traumatic Growth are applied in analyses of each culture: The culture´s original family organization and infant care practices. How migration and urbanization affect the parenting culture in question, including under-five mortality, and signs of post-traumatic growth.
... Several additional studies were quickly mounted to be certain of these findings, and as summarized in Gunnar and Donzella (Gunnar & Donzella, 2002), results showed that in the same children cortisol levels would rise over the day at child care, but not at home. Other research groups noted this as well (see meta-analysis, Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006), and found that as soon as children went home late in the afternoon levels dropped to levels seen on nonchild care days (Sumner et al., 2010). That the quality of child care mattered was also replicated, with larger increases seen in poorer quality settings Hynes & Habasevich-Brooks, 2008;Sims et al., 2006). ...
Psychoendocrine research on stress in healthy children and adolescents is entering its fifth decade. Forty some years ago, the questions we were asking about the role of stress hormones in human development, most notably, cortisol, were quite different, and much more humble, than the ones we are asking today. From these humble beginnings, human developmental psychoendocrine research has burgeoned, until today the search terms “cortisol and children and emotion” returns over 11,000 citations. This review will not cover the entire field of work on this system in pediatric populations. It will focus for the most part on physically healthy children. Where psychiatric disorders are discussed, it will be within the context of the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis in transducing early life stress (ELS) into psychopathological outcomes. What will be covered in some detail is work on parent–child relationships as regulators of the HPA axis in childhood and adolescence, child care, peer relations, and early life stress (ELS) and its effects of stress reactivity.
... Je größer der Erwerbsumfang der Mutter ist, desto weniger Interaktionen finden statt und desto weniger kann sich das Kind seiner Mutter mitteilen. Die Erfüllung der kindlichen Bedürfnisse, die es gewohnt war von der Mutter aufgrund ihrer Feinfühligkeit (Ainsworth, 1974;Papoušek et al., 2002, 183-206) (Böhm, 2013;Datler et al., 2012;Vermeer et al., 2006). Die auf seine Bedürfnisse abgestimmten positiv erlebten Interaktionen mit seiner Mutter führten zudem zur Ausschüttung des Hormons Oxytocin (Feldman, Gordon, Influs, Gutbir & Ebstein, 2013 (Schnotz, 2006, 89 f.). ...
Dies ist ein Open-Access-Buch. Der Band bietet eine wirtschaftswissenschaftlich und psychologisch fundierte Herleitung von Wohlfahrtseffekten, die durch den zunehmenden Erwerbsumfang von Müttern und der daraus resultierenden frühkindlichen institutionellen Fremdbetreuung entstehen. Das Buch liefert eine multiperspektivische Analyse anhand des entwickelten Caregiving-In-Modells sowie auch verhaltensökonomischer Aspekte und leistet – auf Basis der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse – einen diskursiven Beitrag zur Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie für Entscheidungsträger in Wirtschaft und Politik.
Die Autorin
Sonja Maria Schrader absolvierte am Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln Akademie einen M.A. in Behavioral Ethics, Economics and Psychology. Sie ist zudem Lerntherapeutin, systemisch agiler Coach und zertifizierte Aufsichtsrätin.
Ihre Interessen gelten der strategischen Organisations- und Persönlichkeitsentwicklung, hier insbesondere dem Wirkfaktor Psychologische Sicherheit, sowie den Themen Leadership, Reputation und Nachhaltigkeit. Privat begeistert sich die Mutter erwachsener Kinder für Ausdauersport und verbringt ihre Zeit am liebsten in der Natur und in den Bergen.
... Research has documented elevated cortisol levels in children who are in daycare compared to those who are raised at home (Groeneveld et al., 2010;Gunnar et al., 2010;Sigman, 2012;Vermeer and van IJzendoorn, 2006). However, specific links between daycare-induced cortisol elevation and developmental outcomes have not been established, and recent research suggests that cortisol response in daycare may be linked to children's home environment (Berry et al., 2013a,b) as well as to child temperament and daycare quality (Geoffroy et al., 2006). ...
This article summarizes the research to date on the effects of nonparental child care (daycare) on children's development. After a brief historical review and a discussion of the obstacles facing researchers in this field, the article presents main findings from the daycare literature, including the primacy of home influences for children in daycare, the importance of daycare quality, the effects of daycare on children's behavior, cognitive development, and physical health, and the problems of high cost and low availability characterizing the daycare landscape in the US.
... Yet, additional early research in this area reported a rise in children's cortisol in classrooms with higher global quality (often a combination of process and structural quality; Dettling et al., 1999;Watamura et al., 2003). Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn (2006) speculate that these mixed findings may be related to the limited variability in quality of these high-quality programs, as may be the case with the classrooms in this study as well (all classrooms scored in the mid-high or high range for both domains and displayed the low variability in the means). Additionally, previous work examining CLASS™ domains and children's RDC (Hatfield et al., 2013) used a more diverse socioeconomic sample. ...
Research Findings: This study aims to understand the ways in which classroom-level teacher-child interaction quality is predictive of self-regulatory behavior and physiology. Specifically, we examine if high-quality and consistent behavioral and emotional support are related to preschool children’s behavioral self-regulation, inhibitory control, and morning cortisol levels at child care. Fifty-four children within 11 center-based preschool classrooms participated. Saliva was collected at child care over two mornings and assayed for cortisol; two direct assessments of self-regulation were conducted. Classroom quality was observed over two days with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System. Models predicting self-regulation find that high-quality Emotional Support predicted higher behavioral self-regulation and inhibitory control skills for preschool children. No significant associations with consistency of teacher-child interactions emerged; however, there was a trend-level association between consistently managed classrooms and behavioral self-regulation. Results indicate no association between classroom-level interaction quality or consistency and children’s cortisol at child care. Practice or Policy: Our findings indicate that classroom-level, emotionally supportive interactions predict higher behavioral self-regulation and inhibitory control for preschool children. Thus, teachers who foster relationships in the classroom that are supportive and responsive may help to support preschool children’s self-regulation skills.
... Specifically, the glucocorticoid (GC) cortisol has been used as a proximate variable, as it is involved in physiological stress response, blood glucose regulation, immune function regulation and behaviour (Sapolsky et al., 2000;Taves et al., 2011). To assess the association between stress and cortisol a series of measurements have been employed including cortisol baseline level (Vermeer, & van IJzendoorn, M. H., 2006;Yehuda et al., 2007), cortisol secretion reactivity (Edelstein et al., 2010;Jansen et al., 2010), cortisol awakening response (Chida & Steptoe, 2009) or cortisol level recovery after exposure (Roy et al., 1998). ...
Since Myers (1915) coined the term ‘shell shock’ to define the prolonged suffering of soldiers returning from the Great War, the psychological and physical result of distressing experiences, known as trauma, has been of academic interest. Transgenerational transmission of trauma effects has been recorded, demonstrating that on some level, the exposure to trauma of one generation can impact individuals of a subsequent generation (Yehuda & Lehrner, 2018). Observational studies on children of holocaust survivors formed the basis of this trajectory of research (Rakoff, 1966), and eventually this phenomenon became referred to as the transgenerational transmission of trauma (TTT). Since then, TTT has been observed in several contexts, including within families who have experienced high rates historical trauma (O’Neill et al., 2016), within regions high-frequencies of historical war and terrorism (Yehuda & Lehrner, 2018) and those who have undergone famine (Ahmed, 2010). This report aims to outline several pathways (biological, psychological, and sociological) by which trauma may be transmitted across generations. Moreover, it discusses several methods of trauma assessment and the related challenges and benefits. Lastly, this report advocates a biopsychosocial approach – an interdisciplinary model using the interplay of biological, psychological, and social-environmental factors – to research TTT. By promoting the benefits of such an interdisciplinary approach we attempt to break up silos between disciplines and encourage collaboration between academics from various backgrounds researching this topic to better serve individuals impacted by TTT.
... Some curricula have indicated positive results, including the Dinosaur School Curriculum (Webster-Stratton et al., 2008) and the Preschool Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies curriculum (Hamre et al., 2012). However, negative impacts on self-regulation and social skillssuch as increased aggressive behaviourhave also been reported after interventions (Coley et al., 2013;Vermeer & van Ijzendoorn, 2006). ...
Researchers and professionals in the early childhood education context have expressed concern over children's social and emotional behaviours and peer relationships. The current study aimed to investigate how children's interactions in small groups are associated with their peer relationships. Another aim was to learn how children's peer interactions vary at the individual level. The study's participants were 16 five-to-six-year-old full-time kindergarteners. Social network analysis was conducted, based on sociometric nominations, to test the degree centrality of all 16 children's peer acceptance, preference and likability. Video-recorded interactions among all participants were analysed to calculate the children's frequency of prosocial and problem behaviours. Four children's interactions were analysed in more detail. Our results showed a positive correlation between children's peer preferences and their problem behaviours. Furthermore, we observed a positive correlation between children's mutual ties and their prosocial and problem behaviours. We found no linear developmental trend from individual-level interactions. Our results indicate that situational environments relate to children's peer relationships and interaction dynamics. Kindergarten teachers can use this study's results to consider various activities that would encourage children's active interactions with various peers from children's standpoints, rather than adults' perspective.
... A meta-analysis involving nine studies in which children's cortisol levels at daycare centers were assessed showed that children in lower quality centers experienced higher levels of this stress hormone than did children in high-quality centers (Vermeer, van IJzendoorn, 2006). In the lower quality centers, students were less successful focusing or paying attention. ...
The focus of this commentary is the possibilities for learning communities in dropout prevention and their interventionist role in this problem. Educators are urged to develop advocacy for adolescents at risk of dropping out and failing to graduate. High school dropout has been described as a national epidemic, yet urban youth continue to be disengaged in their learning and success. The role of professional learning communities in simultaneously engaging students and improving schools offers a solution for dealing with the dropout problem. This type of collective school-wide initiative is potentially a significant strategy for coping with student disengagement, failure, dropout, and teacher isolation across grade levels. Work within learning communities can prepare teachers for the changing culture within their schools.
Full-text availability:
https://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Publications/Journals/
AASA_Journal_of_Scholarship_and_Practice/Fall2011.FINAL.pdf
... (Jovanovic, 2011). , , 36 (Vermeer & van IJzendoorn, 2006). ...
In western China, many socioeconomically disadvantaged rural children remain at preschools for extremely long hours: they start to receive boarding services as young as 3 years old and remain at preschools for 4 to 5 consecutive days weekly. Although the quality of childcare is generally poor in these preschools, extremely long school hours and prolonged separation from primary caregivers may induce additional stress and lead to school maladjustment among boarding preschoolers. This study examines the impact of boarding experience on preschool beginners' social adjustment and stress responses, as indicated by their saliva alpha‐amylase (sAA) and cortisol. A total of over 900 saliva samples of 31 boarding and 30 non‐boarding preschoolers (mean age = 44.0 months, SD = 9.8 months) were collected over 12 weeks after they entered preschools. Primary caregivers reported children's behavioural problems and school refusal. Boarders experienced a larger mid‐morning to mid‐afternoon rise in cortisol than non‐boarders on the second‐to‐last weekdays but not on the first weekdays. Non‐boarders experienced an accelerated decrease in sAA during the 12 weeks, whereas boarders did not. Differences in cortisol and sAA patterns indicate potential increased stress for boarders, which might be associated with their more prevalent school‐refusal behaviour than non‐boarders. The findings underscore that entry into boarding preschool may cause stress and school refusal in rural Chinese children during their transition to preschool. Additional contacts with primary caregivers during this transition are needed to support boarders emotionally.
Strong social bonds in gregarious adult animals have been associated with lower levels of glucocorticoids. However, similar research is lacking for juvenile primates. We examined relationships between social bonds and mean concentrations of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCMs) in 44 free-ranging juvenile rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. We measured frequencies of affiliative behavior (grooming, play, approaches and proximity) with other same-sex, same-aged juveniles (peers) and the total number of affiliative peer relationships. We found a positive relationship between fGCMs and grooming frequencies. Females that spent more time in proximity to peers also had higher fGCMs. In contrast, among juveniles with more closely related peers, those with more affiliative peers or more frequent play bouts had lower fGCMs. However, strong peer bonds in most juveniles did not appear to be associated with reduced glucocorticoid levels. fGCMs were higher for females than males, but were unassociated with physical activity, aggression, or peer seeking tendencies. We propose that the establishment and navigation of some peer bonds at this life stage may involve increased metabolic demand.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-024-81962-2.
Extant literature has demonstrated that children's diurnal stress physiology often looks different on childcare versus home days. Specifically, children experience a rise in cortisol, rather than a decline, over the day while in full‐time care. Additionally, temperamental fit within classroom environment may influence both child and teacher cortisol and outcomes. The current study investigated whether teachers' cortisol levels ( n = 11) were associated with child cortisol levels ( n = 71, mean age = 4.18 ± 0.81, 51% female) in the classroom while taking into account temperament, child sex assigned at birth, and classroom quality. Cortisol samples were collected on consecutive days at home and childcare for children, and at childcare for teachers. We hypothesized that (1) teacher cortisol will predict child afternoon cortisol, (2) that a portion of the variance in this relationship will be accounted for by classroom quality. Using a cross‐sectional design, children in this sample had higher cortisol values in the afternoon while at childcare than at similar times of day at home. Teachers demonstrated a typical diurnal decline across the day but variation in total cortisol output at childcare. Two distinct predictors of afternoon cortisol levels were identified in children attending childcare: child age and mean teacher cortisol levels across the day, while negative affect and classroom quality were not significant. Younger children and children whose teachers had higher mean cortisol levels were more likely to have high afternoon cortisol at childcare. Higher diurnal cortisol values for teachers may indicate a higher stress environment for both teachers and children. These preliminary findings suggest that teacher stress may not only have implications for children in terms of teacher burnout, high staff turnover, and learning, but possibly also for children's health and well‐being. Implications for research and policy, as well as limitations and strengths, are discussed.
The purpose of this study is to quantify the effect of the closure of daycare facilities during the early stage of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the stress of parents with preschool children. Using household panel data collected before and after the pandemic, we estimated difference-in-differences models and their extensions. Our empirical results show that the closure of daycare facilities significantly worsened parental stress as measured by the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. The negative effects of daycare closures on parental stress levels were greater for mothers, non-regular workers, and households with relatively older children. In contrast, on parents in metropolitan areas or those with younger children, no significant effects of daycare closures were observed. We discuss the two conflicting pathways—the increased childcare burden and the decreased risk of children’s infection—through which daycare closures affected parental distress, interpret the heterogeneous effects accordingly, and provide policy implications. Our results suggest that a risk-based, local closure policy could have been effective in reducing parental stress during the emergency.
Adversity experienced in early life can have detrimental effects on physical and mental health. One pathway in which these effects occur is through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a key physiological stress-mediating system. In this review, we discuss the theoretical perspec- tives that guide stress reactivity and regulation research, the anatomy and physiology of the axis, de- velopmental changes in the axis and its regulation, brain systems regulating stress, the role of genetic and epigenetics variation in axis development, sensitive periods in stress system calibration, the social regulation of stress (i.e., social buffering), and emerging research areas in the study of stress physiolo- gy and development. Understanding the development of stress reactivity and regulation is crucial for uncovering how early adverse experiences influence mental and physical health.
This study examined several early childhood education and care (ECEC) factors and their relation to children’s salivary cortisol slope and hair cortisol concentration (HCC). The study is part of the cross-sectional DAGIS study, conducted in 2015–2016, examining 66 preschools and 677 children aged 3–6 years in Finland. Two saliva samples from one childcare day and a hair sample were collected from the children. Educators’ education level, perceived stress, and occupational well-being factors, group size, child-adult ratio, and amount of childcare per week were assessed by questionnaires filled in by educators and guardians. Higher educators’ education level was associated with a higher likelihood of children having a declining salivary cortisol slope. Educators with higher perceived stress were associated with a lower likelihood of children having a declining cortisol slope, but the result was attenuated in the adjusted model. Child-adult ratio was negatively associated with HCC. The results indicate that educators’ higher education level and possibly lower stress associate with a favourable cortisol profile in children, suggesting less stress. These factors should receive attention when considering children’s stress at childcare.
James Robertson’s early films of hospitalized children, particularly A Two Year Old Goes to Hospital (1952), are frequently cited in histories of child psychoanalysis and child psychiatry. Much less is known about the later phase of the research he undertook with his wife, Joyce Robertson, into substitute mothering and the nursery setting. This project was documented in the film series Young Children in Brief Separation ( YCBS) (1967), in which the Robertsons acted as foster parents to four children temporarily separated from their mothers. They made a contrasting film, John, about a young boy’s nine-day stay in a residential nursery, where the effects of discontinuous care on the child’s mind are starkly revealed. Drawing on the concept of the narrative self, this article examines the YCBS series for the first time in the historical literature, exploring the films’ clinical and socio-political meanings. In this new account of the Robertson films, cinematic storytelling becomes a means of exposing, and militating against, psychological fragmentation in the mind of the child, carer and film-viewer.
Decades of human and animal research demonstrates that stress responsive neuroendocrine systems calibrate to the harshness of environmental conditions during fetal and early postnatal life. Emerging evidence indicates that if conditions change markedly over childhood, the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis may recalibrate during puberty, another period that involves heightened neural plasticity and rapid maturation of neurobehavioral systems. These recent findings have prompted increased interest in the potential for stress system calibration/recalibration over development. To direct research in this area, this chapter integrates and discusses theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence pertaining to calibration and recalibration of the stress response. We describe how these concepts relate to other constructs, including sensitive periods, plasticity, and programming. We then consider four potential periods of calibration/recalibration: fetal, infancy, puberty, and pregnancy/lactation. In each section, we discuss evidence that the HPA and/or sympathetic medullary adrenal (SAM) system undergoes developmental change, rendering it more plastic and amenable to shift its activity in response to environmental conditions. We also review findings that the impacts of environmental harshness on stress responding persist beyond these periods. We then articulate that marked change in the quality of the environment (from harsh to benign or vice versa) is required in order for recalibration to occur, and that recalibration would result in shifts in stress responding to more closely align with the profiles of individuals who have experienced these conditions throughout life. Finally, we reflect on whether recalibration of the HPA and SAM system may extend to the other stress-responsive neurobehavioral systems.
Zusammenfassung
Immer mehr Kinder zeigen bereits in der frühen Kindheit Anzeichen von Verhaltensauffälligkeiten und Dysregulationen. Es wird ein Einfluss der pränatalen Bindung der Schwangeren zu ihrem ungeborenen Kind sowie ihres peripartalen Wohlbefindens angenommen. In einer prospektiven Studie an 161 Erstgebärenden wurde über standardisierte Fragebögen im dritten Trimenon und 3 Wochen, 6 Monate und 18 Monate postpartum die pränatale Bindung der Mutter zum Kind, den maternalen Bindungsstil, die Bindung in der Paarbeziehung und die prä- und postpartale Depressivität, sowie Entwicklungsauffälligkeiten des Kindes im Alter von 18 Monaten erfasst. Im allgemeinen linearen Modell (ALM) waren eine länger vorliegende prä- und postpartale Depressivität der Mutter sowie Anzeichen einer unsicheren pränatalen Bindung zum Kind mit einer höheren Rate an kindlichen Verhaltensauffälligkeiten assoziiert. Die Befunde untermauern die Bedeutung der frühzeitigen Wahrnehmung von Depressivität bei Frauen während und nach der Schwangerschaft durch medizinische Fachkräfte und der Einleitung von entsprechenden Hilfen, um die Häufigkeit kindlicher Verhaltensauffälligkeiten zu reduzieren.
Many studies show a general increase in stress hormones at the exposure to school entry, but inconsistencies among them due to small samples with varying methodologies and very few time-points, preclude robust conclusions. The current study aimed to describe the pattern of morning cortisol concentration in children across the transition from preschool to school by examining whether we could identify a response to the school entry, but also an anticipatory stress response (pre-entry) and a stress adaptation response (post-entry). We further tested the robustness of this pattern across several characteristics. Participants were 384 children recruited from two cohorts of the 3D pregnancy study, and followed across their transition from preschool to kindergarten. Children’s morning salivary cortisol samples were collected over five time-points: twice before school entry, once at school entry and twice after school entry (one sample per time-point). Although no anticipatory stress response was observed two weeks before school entry, latent growth curve models showed that most children’s morning cortisol concentrations increased during the first two weeks of school, and was not associated with any sociodemographic characteristics, supporting the hypothesis that school entry is a normative environmental stressor. In contrast, two months after school entry, some children showed stress adaptation whereas others showed a prolonged stress response to school entry. This between-children variance could not be explained by any specific sociodemographic characteristic. This study showed that the morning stress response rises at school entry and is sustained for at least two weeks in most children. However, the observed variability in the stress adaptation response remains to be elucidated and linked to functional correlates.
(1) Background: Executive functions are important for academic performance and school readiness. Children’s executive function skills are found to be improved by mindfulness-based interventions, and these programs are also effective in stress reduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and the effects of a short mindfulness-based relaxation training compared to a passive control condition right before school entry on executive function skills and cortisol levels. (2) Methods: The feasibility and the effects of the intervention before school entry were tested with 61 preschoolers. The final sample consisted of 51 participants (Mage = 81.90 months, SD = 5.45; 41% male). Short-term memory, executive function skills and cortisol levels before and after the intervention were assessed. Additionally, cortisol levels were assessed one week and one month after school entry. (3) Results: There was a significant sex difference in the effects of the intervention on children’s cortisol levels (p = 0.026, η2 = 0.134). The mindfulness-based relaxation training applied before school entry prevented a rise in boys’ cortisol levels one week after starting school. (4) Conclusion: A short mindfulness-based intervention before starting school could be effective in fostering physiological stress management in boys.
Prior research suggests that child temperament may play an important role in early childhood stress regulation. We compared children's diurnal cortisol and the association between cortisol and temperament in two different childcare settings. Cortisol was measured from saliva samples over 2 days in children (N = 84) attending out-of-home childcare and in children (N = 27), who were cared for at home at the age of 3.5 years. There was no difference between the childcare groups in total diurnal cortisol. However, of the individual measurements, afternoon cortisol levels were higher in the out-of-home childcare group during their childcare day when compared with their home day. Child temperament was not associated with total diurnal cortisol. Comparison with our prior measurements showed that the association between temperamental surgency/extroversion and total diurnal cortisol diminished along with the child age from 2 to 3.5 years in both childcare settings. This may indicate that more extroverted children are physiologically more reactive to environmental stimuli when they are younger, but this association does not appear as the children develop. Our results further suggest that the afternoon hours in the out-of-home childcare may be demanding and accelerate the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis activation in young children independent of their age.
The transition to kindergarten can be stressful as children adjust to novel separations from their caregivers and become accustomed to their peer group. A 9-month study of 96 children (Mage = 5.37 years, SD = 0.42) from Barranquilla, Colombia, assessed socioeconomic differences in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis functioning across the kindergarten year. Children were from four different classrooms in one school. Saliva samples were collected twice a day across 3 consecutive days at the beginning and end of the school year. We examined whether change in HPA axis activation across the year varied as a function of a child's socioeconomic status (SES) and experience in the peer group. We found that rejected children and lower SES children had lower cortisol levels early in the morning. Rejected children had a flatter morning cortisol slope. Lower SES children had higher cortisol than their higher SES peers at the end of the school year and a flatter morning cortisol slope. Taken together, these findings suggest that diurnal cortisol in children beginning kindergarten may be influenced by both peer rejection and SES.
Die Berücksichtigung der Heterogenität von Lebensformen und Lebenslagen (sozioökonomischer Status, Kulturalität, Geschlechtszugehörigkeit, Befähigung und Beeinträchtigung) betrifft Fragen des quantitativen und qualitativen Ausbaus der frühen Kindertagesbetreuung ebenso wie die Diskussion über präventiven Kindesschutz im Säuglingsund Kleinkindalter. Nach einem Überblick über relevante Ergebnisse der Krippen-, Diversitätsund Frühpräventionsforschung werden Forschungsbedarfe aufgezeigt.
Selten hat man sich so intensiv mit Fragen institutioneller Betreuung von Kindern beschäftigt, wie es derzeit auf allen Ebenen geschieht. Dabei geht es keineswegs nur um Kapazitäts- und Ausbaufragen, sondern auch um Standards und Gewährleistung von Qualität. Unabhängig davon wird auch immer wieder diskutiert, ab welchem Alter Kinder in eine Kita geschickt werden sollen.
During the transition from home to childcare, 70 15-month-old infants were videotaped, and their negative emotions were rated. Infants' attachments to mothers were assessed prior to child care entry and to care providers five months later using the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Infant heart rate was monitored at home, during adaptation to childcare (mothers present), and during subsequent separations. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was computed from the beat-to-beat measures of heart rate to reflect vagal tone, which is reduced during chronic states of stress, and was collected upon Arrival, during in-group Play, and when in the Group more generally. All infants responded to childcare entry with low RSA levels indicating stress. However, during adaptation with the mother present, RSA was higher for securely attached infants. On the first separation day, 35.3% of the infants fussed and cried extensively. These intense protests predicted later secure attachments to care providers, which adaptively helped to reduce stress, especially in infants who protested extensively, as if summoning their mothers back. Because extensive protest suggests limited regulatory capacities, infants risk overburdening the stress system when left unsupported.
Background:
Drowning is responsible for an estimated 320,000 deaths a year, and over 90% of drowning mortality occurs in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs), with peak drowning rates among children aged 1 to 4 years. In this age group, mortality due to drowning is particularly common in rural settings and about 75% of drowning accidents happen in natural bodies of water close to the home. Providing adequate child supervision can protect children from drowning, and organized formal day care programs could offer a way to achieve this.
Objectives:
Primary objective • To assess the effects of day care programs for children under 6 years of age on drowning-related mortality or morbidity, or on total drowning accidents (fatal and non-fatal), in LMICs, compared to no day care programs or other drowning prevention interventions Secondary objectives • To assess the effects of day care programs in LMICs for children under 6 years of age on unsafe water exposure • To assess safety within these programs (e.g. transmission of infection within day care, physical or sexual abuse of children within day care) • To assess the incidence of unintentional injury within these programs • To describe the cost-effectiveness of such programs, in relation to averted drowning-related mortality or morbidity SEARCH METHODS: On November 23, 2019, and for an update on August 18, 2020, we searched MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, CENTRAL, ERIC, and CINAHL, as well as two trial registries. On December 16, 2019, and for an update on February 9, 2021, we searched 12 other resources, including websites of organizations that develop programs targeted to children.
Selection criteria:
We included randomized, quasi-randomized, and non-randomized controlled studies (with explicitly listed specific study design features) that implemented formal day care programs as a single program or combined with additional out-of-day care components (such as educational activities aimed at preventing injury or drowning or early childhood development activities) for children of preschool age (below 6 years of age) in LMICs for comparison with no such programs or with other drowning prevention interventions. Studies had to report at least one outcome related to drowning or injury prevention for the children enrolled.
Data collection and analysis:
Two review authors independently performed study selection and data extraction, as well as risk of bias and GRADE assessment.
Main results:
Two non-randomized observational studies, conducted in rural Bangladesh, involving a total of 252,631 participants, met the inclusion criteria for this review. One of these studies compared a formal day care program combined with parent education, playpens provided to parents, and community-based activities as additional out-of-day care components versus no such program. Overall we assessed this study to be at moderate risk of bias (moderate risk of bias due to confounding, low risk of bias for other domains). This study showed that implementation of a formal day care program combined with parent education, provision of playpens to parents, and community-based activities, in a rural area with a high drowning incidence, likely reduces the risk of death from drowning over the study period of 4 years and 8 months compared to no day care program (hazard ratio 0.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.06 to 0.58; 1 study, 136,577 participants; moderate-certainty evidence). Drowning morbidity (non-fatal drowning resulting in complications), total drowning (fatal and non-fatal), unsafe water exposure, and program safety (e.g. transmission of infection within day care, physical or sexual abuse of children within day care) were not reported, nor was the incidence of other unintentional injuries. Cost-effectiveness was reported as 812 USD (95% CI 589 to 1777) per disability-adjusted life-year averted as a consequence of drowning (moderate-certainty evidence). The second study compared day care programs with or without playpens provided to parents as an additional component versus only playpens provided to parents as an alternative drowning prevention intervention. Overall we assessed the study to be at critical risk of bias because we judged bias due to confounding to be at critical risk. As the certainty of evidence was very low, we are uncertain about the effects on drowning mortality rate of implementing a day care program compared to providing playpens (rate ratio 0.25, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.41; 1 study; 76,575 participants; very low-certainty evidence). Likewise, we are uncertain about the effects of a day care program with playpens provided as an additional component versus playpens provided alone (rate ratio 0.06, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.12; 1 study, 45,460 participants; very low-certainty evidence). The other outcomes of interest - drowning morbidity, total drowning, unsafe water exposure, program safety, incidence of other unintentional injuries, and cost-effectiveness - were not reported.
Authors' conclusions:
This review provides evidence suggesting that a day care program with additional out-of-day care components such as community-based education, parent education, and playpens provided to parents likely reduces the drowning mortality risk in regions with a high burden of drowning compared to no intervention.
Developmental programming of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is theorized as a mechanism through which early life experiences are linked to later health outcomes. Despite the importance of understanding early stress responses, reliably eliciting stress responses in young children can be challenging. The current study measured salivary cortisol reactivity in a diverse sample of preschoolers. A standardized challenge paradigm was administered at home and at child care for each child, allowing for comparison of normative cortisol reactivity between settings. Results demonstrated that administration at home was associated with significant cortisol reactivity, while administration at child care was not. In comparison to white children, racially and ethnically diverse children exhibited lower cortisol reactivity in response to the home stressor. Results suggest that home‐based stress paradigms may be particularly effective at eliciting a stress response in this age range. Possible interpretations of differences by child race/ethnicity are discussed.
Highlights
• Differential physiological responses to stress examined between home and childcare environments for a diverse sample of preschoolers.
• Significant cortisol reactivity was elicited at home but not at childcare, suggesting that home visits create a novel, naturalistic stressor for young children.
• Latinx and non‐Latinx minority children exhibited lower physiological reactivity in comparison to white children – cultural and methodological considerations are discussed.
The effects of maternal proximity on the behavioral and physiological responses of infant rhesus macaques during 4 days of total or adjacent separations from the mother were studied. The 6 infants tested showed behavioral responses that differentiated the two separation conditions. Major differences were found in the quantity and quality of vocalizations, the occurrence of cage-biting and cage-shaking behavior, object exploration, and hunched and freezing postures. In particular, the structure of coo vocalizations clearly discriminated between the presence or the absence of the mother during separation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of dopamine and serotonin metabolites did not discriminate between the two separation conditions but showed a transient elevation at 24 hr after separation and were not different from baseline by 96 hr after separation. In contrast, both the plasma cortisol and the CSF norepinephrine metabolite responses tended to be greater and to persist for a longer period of time when infants were totally isolated. The results are discussed within the context of attachment and coping theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Development of a caretaker-report instrument of the assessment of infant temperament is described, and longitudinal findings are reported. Temperament dimensions were selected for investigation from the work of Thomas, Chess et al., Escalona, Diamond, and others. Conceptual analysis of scale definitions was carried out to eliminate conceptual overlap of scales, and item analysis was performed for 463 Infant Behavior Questionnaires filled out for 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month-old subjects. Scales with adequate psychometric and conceptual properties were developed for the following dimensions: activity level, soothability, fear, distress to limitations, smiling and laughter, and duration of orienting. In longitudinal analyses, activity level and smiling and laughter scales revealed stability from 3 through 12 months, duration of orienting and soothability showed less general stability, and fear and distress to limitations showed stability only beyond the age of 6 months.
Meta-analysis collects and synthesizes results from individual studies to estimate an overall effect size. If published studies are chosen, say through a literature review, then an inherent selection bias may arise, because, for example, studies may tend to be published more readily if they are statistically significant, or deemed to be more “interesting” in terms of the impact of their outcomes. We develop a simple rank-based data augmentation technique, formalizing the use of funnel plots, to estimate and adjust for the numbers and outcomes of missing studies. Several nonparametric estimators are proposed for the number of missing studies, and their properties are developed analytically and through simulations. We apply the method to simulated and epidemiological datasets and show that it is both effective and consistent with other criteria in the literature.
The present study examines in toddlers one of the most crucial components of empathy—attention to distress, and, in particular, attention to distress in a daycare setting where others' distress is a frequent occurrence. Characteristics of the child such as age, gender, and frequency of self-distress, and characteristics of the distress incident itself such as type of cry, intensity, cause of distress, and caregiver response were examined in relation to level of responsiveness of the group and level of attending in the individual child. 45 toddlers from 4 daycare centers served as subjects. An ANOVA using 345 distress incidents and level of group responsiveness as the dependent variable revealed that crying and screaming, greater intensity, caregiver responding in general, and "moral" (Turiel, 1983) causes of distress were related to higher levels of attending by the group. An interesting secondary finding was that only 11 of the 345 incidents of distress were responded to with prosocial behavior. Results are discussed in terms of the future of moral education at the preschool level.
We report the results of research investigating temperamental characteristics of children in the People's Republic of China and the US using a parent-report instrument, the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), defining temperament as individual differences in emotional, motoric, and attentional reactivity and self-regulation. Subjects were 624 6- to 7-year-old children, from Shanghai and the north-western region of the US. The 15 CBQ scales were factored for both samples, employing a principal axis factor analysis with an oblique rotation. Our findings indicated considerable similarity of factor structure in the two cultures, obtaining three factors labelled Surgency, Negative Affect, and Attentional Self-Regulation or Effortful Control. Differences across cultures were also found, with Surgency and Effortful Control scores being relatively higher than Negative Affect in the US sample and Negative Affect being relatively higher than Surgency and Effortful Control in the Chinese sample. Gender differences were also found to vary across cultures. Our findings are congruent with a view of underlying cultural similarities in temperamental variability across these cultures, influenced over time by the children's culturally varied experience.
The measurement of cortisol in saliva provides the basic scientist as well as the clinician with a reliable tool for investigations of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Since saliva samples can be obtained stress-free and independent from medically trained personnel this method may be well suited for use in psychobiological studies. This overview intends to give a comprehensive introduction to the method of salivary cortisol assessment and to briefly discuss its application in different scientific disciplines.
Attachment research has shown the emergence of individual differences in the security of infant-mother attachment during the first year of life as well as their importance for later social-emotional development. A biobehavioral perspective may help settle disagreements about the validity and interpretation of 12-month-old infants' different behavioral patterns of attachment assessed by Ainsworth's Strange Situation. It was shown that, despite less overt distress in insecure-avoidant infants after short separations from the mother, overall cardiac measures indicate arousal patterns similar to the secure infants during separation. However, differences in cardiac response emerged with regard to object versus person orientation during reunion. Additionally, findings of increased cortisol in both insecure-avoidant and disorganized infants support the theoretical interpretation that these infants, in contrast to secure infants, lack an appropriate coping strategy.
The role of the mother-toddler attachment relationship in moderating the relations between behavioral inhibition and changes in salivary cortisol levels in response to novel events was examined in 77 18-month-olds. Behavioral inhibition was determined by observing toddler inhibition of approach to several novel events. Attachment security to mother was assessed using the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Changes in salivary cortisol were used to index activity of the stress-sensitive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system. In addition, toddler coping behaviors and the behaviors used by mothers to help toddlers manage novel events were examined. Elevations in cortisol were found only for inhibited toddlers in insecure attachment relationships. Mothers in these relationships appeared to interfere with their toddlers' coping efforts. These results are discussed in the context of a coping model of the relations between temperament and stress reactivity.
We study recently developed nonparametric methods for estimating the number of missing studies that might exist in a meta-analysis and the effect that these studies might have had on its outcome. These are simple rank-based data augmentation techniques, which formalize the use of funnel plots. We show that they provide effective and relatively powerful tests for evaluating the existence of such publication bias. After adjusting for missing studies, we find that the point estimate of the overall effect size is approximately correct and coverage of the effect size confidence intervals is substantially improved, in many cases recovering the nominal confidence levels entirely. We illustrate the trim and fill method on existing meta-analyses of studies in clinical trials and psychometrics.
Inadequate early caregiving has been associated with risks of stress-related psychological and physical illness over the life span. Dysregulated physiological stress responses may represent a mechanism linking early caregiving to health outcomes. This paper reviews evidence linking early caregiving to physiological responses that can increase vulnerability to stress-related illness. A number of high-risk family characteristics, including high conflict, divorce, abuse, and parental psychopathology, are considered in the development of stress vulnerability. Three theoretical pathways linking caregiving to physiological stress responses are outlined: genetic, psychosocial, and cognitive-affective. Exciting preliminary evidence suggests that early caregiving can impact long-term physiological stress responses. Directions for future research in this area are suggested.
This meta-analysis reviews 208 laboratory studies of acute psychological stressors and tests a theoretical model delineating conditions capable of eliciting cortisol responses. Psychological stressors increased cortisol levels; however, effects varied widely across tasks. Consistent with the theoretical model, motivated performance tasks elicited cortisol responses if they were uncontrollable or characterized by social-evaluative threat (task performance could be negatively judged by others), when methodological factors and other stressor characteristics were controlled for. Tasks containing both uncontrollable and social-evaluative elements were associated with the largest cortisol and adrenocorticotropin hormone changes and the longest times to recovery. These findings are consistent with the animal literature on the physiological effects of uncontrollable social threat and contradict the belief that cortisol is responsive to all types of stressors.
Seventy 15-month-old infants were studied at home before starting child care, during adaptation (mothers present) and separation (first 9 days without mothers) phases, and 5 months later. Security of infant-mother attachment was assessed before and 3 months after child care began. In the separation phase, salivary cortisol rose over the first 60 min following the mothers' departures to levels that were 75% to 100% higher than at home. Compared with insecure infants, secure infants had markedly lower cortisol levels during the adaptation phase and higher fuss and cry levels during the separation phase, and their fuss and cry levels were significantly correlated with their cortisol levels. Attachments remained secure or became secure if mothers spent more days adapting their children to child care.
Development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis was examined using salivary cortisol levels assessed at wake-up, midmorning, midafternoon, and bedtime in 77 children aged 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months, in a cross-sectional design. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses were used to characterize cortisol production across the day and to examine age-related differences. Using area(s) under the curve (AUC), cortisol levels were higher among the 12-, 18-, and 24-month children than among the 30- and 36-month children. For all five age groups, cortisol levels were highest at wake-up and lowest at bedtime. Significant decreases were noted between wake-up and midmorning, and between midafternoon and bedtime. Unlike adults, midafternoon cortisol levels were not significantly lower than midmorning levels. Over this age period, children napped less and scored increasingly higher on parent reports of effortful control. Among the 30- and 36-month children, shorter naps were associated with more adultlike decreases in cortisol levels from midmorning to midafternoon. Considering all of the age groups together, effortful control correlated negatively with cortisol levels after controlling for age. These results suggest that circadian regulation of the HPA axis continues to mature into the third year in humans, and that its maturation corresponds to aspects of behavioral development.
Biological reactivity to psychological stressors comprises a complex, integrated, and highly conserved repertoire of central neural and peripheral neuroendocrine responses designed to prepare the organism for challenge or threat. Developmental experience plays a role, along with heritable, polygenic variation, in calibrating the response dynamics of these systems, with early adversity biasing their combined effects toward a profile of heightened or prolonged reactivity. Conventional views of such high reactivity suggest that it is an atavistic and pathogenic legacy of an evolutionary past in which threats to survival were more prevalent and severe. Recent evidence, however, indicates that (a) stress reactivity is not a unitary process, but rather incorporates counterregulatory circuits serving to modify or temper physiological arousal, and (b) the effects of high reactivity phenotypes on psychiatric and biomedical outcomes are bivalent, rather than univalent, in character, exerting both risk-augmenting and risk-protective effects in a context-dependent manner. These observations suggest that heightened stress reactivity may reflect, not simply exaggerated arousal under challenge, but rather an increased biological sensitivity to context, with potential for negative health effects under conditions of adversity and positive effects under conditions of support and protection. From an evolutionary perspective, the developmental plasticity of the stress response systems, along with their structured, context-dependent effects, suggests that these systems may constitute conditional adaptations: evolved psychobiological mechanisms that monitor specific features of childhood environments as a basis for calibrating the development of stress response systems to adaptively match those environments. Taken together, these theoretical perspectives generate a novel hypothesis: that there is a curvilinear, U-shaped relation between early exposures to adversity and the development of stress-reactive profiles, with high reactivity phenotypes disproportionately emerging within both highly stressful and highly protected early social environments.
This review examines the central actions exerted by corticosteroids that are mediated by mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs or Type 1) and glucocorticoid receptocs (GRs or Type 2) in the brain. The leitmotiv is that these MR- and GR-mediated effects of the steroid hormones are of critical importance for homeostatic control. MRs have aldosterone (ALDO)-selective properties in some nerve cells and apparent corticosterone (B)-selective properties in others, notably the limbic neurons. Compartmentalization of the MR subtypes hinges on activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and corticosteroid-binding globulin. B also binds to GRs, but with 10-fold lower affinity. GR density is high in brain regions involved in organization of the stress response. GR-mediated corticosteroid effects inhibit stress-induced pituitary proopiomelanocortin and hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone and vasopressin synthesis, but facilitate activation and sensitization of ascending aminergic neurons. In hippocampal CA1 neurons, co-localized MRs and GRs coordinately and differentially mediate corticosteroid control of ion regulation and transmitter responsiveness. MRs are involved in maintenance of excitability, while GRs suppress excitability, which is transiently raised by excitatory transmitters. At the neuroendocrine level, B sets the threshold for the stress response system via binding to MRs. Blockade of MRs enhances basal and stress-induced hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activity. Stress- and circadian-induced episodic occupancy by B of GRs in hippocampus attenuates MR-mediated limbic inhibition. In hypothalamus, B blocks via binding to GRs the communication of the HPA axis. At the behavioral level, the ALDO-selective MRs mediate specific effects on salt hunger and functions associated with sodium homeostasis such as central cardiovascular control. Limbic MRs seem primarily concerned with B effects on information handling and the organization of behavioral strategies. GRs mediate steroid effects on fear- and food-motivated behavior and information storage. GR-mediated effects on behavior may persist for weeks in adulthood and appear permanent during development. High glucocorticoids decrease hippocampal GR and increase MR capacity, while mineralocorticoids down-regulate both receptor types. Animals with an increased relative amount of limbic MRs over GRs show reduced emotional and adrenocortical reactivity and a decreased ability to organize behavior with the help of external stimuli. Deviations of an idiosyncratic MR/GR balance are proposed to alter individual-specific susceptibility to stress and © 1991 Raven Press perhaps to stress-related brain diseases. The findings place Selye's "pendulum hypothesis" on mineralocorticoid and glucocorticoid action in the perspective of co-localized MRs and GRs mediating coordinate and differential effects of B on regulation of cellular homeostasis and behavioral adaptation.
The investigation focuses on environmental features of day care centers likely to affect emotional and stress reactions of toddlers in group settings. To assess stress reactions, the morning cortisol changes of 113 children (18 to 40 months) were analyzed in eight day care centers. Children's cortisol levels in the centers remained stable between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., whereas at home, as expected, cortisol levels decreased at the same time of day. Children's cortisol changes showed differences among the eight centers, suggesting the influence of environmental factors. Cortisol increases were related to large group sizes (n > 15), important age differences among children (> 6 months), less available area per child in the playrooms (< 5 m2), and unexpectedly, large number of caregivers in the team (> 4 adults). Overall, the findings support the claim that the physical and social attributes of preschool settings intervene in the regulation of children's bioemotional reactions.
Studies of preschool indicate that: (1) valid and reliable measures of the environment are possible; (2) environments vary across programs; and (3) there is a relationship between the environment and development of children in those environments. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale shows promise for both research and training. (Author/LC)
The relations among temperament, social competence, and levels of a stress-sensitive hormone (salivary cortisol) were examined in two studies of preschool children (Study 1, N = 29; Study 2, N = 46). In both studies, we sampled cortisol daily for the initial weeks of the school year (Group Formation period) and for several weeks later in the year (Familiar Group period). For each child, we examined two measures of cortisol activity (separately for each period) based on the distribution of cortisol levels across days: (a) median cortisol (50th percentile) and (b) cortisol reactivity (the difference between the 75th and 50th percentile). Median cortisol was modestly stable across periods, but cortisol reactivity was not. Children who showed high cortisol reactivity (75th minus 50th percentile ≥0.10 μg/dl) during the Group Formation period but low-to-normal cortisol reactivity during the Familiar Group period were outgoing, competent, and well liked by their peers. In contrast, children who changed from low/normal to high cortisol reactivity and those who maintained high cortisol reactivity from the Group Formation to Familiar Group period were affectively negative and solitary. Children who showed high median cortisol during the Familiar Group period or over both periods scored lower on a measure of attentional and inhibitory control. Together, these results suggest that relations among temperament, social competence, and neuroendocrine reactivity reflect both individual and contextual differences. ©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 31: 49–63, 1997
In this study, we examined a model that describes both direct and indirect pathways between children's temperament and activity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis when children are in peer-group settings. We hypothesize that in peer-group settings both shy, inhibited and exuberant, undercontrolled children would exhibit higher cortisol levels, but these associations would operate through different pathways. Sociometric measures of peer rejection, salivary cortisol, and teacher reports of temperament were collected on 82 preschoolers. Children who were rejected by classmates had higher cortisol levels than the other children. The combination of Surgency and Poor Effortful Control (Effortful Control, reverse scored) was associated with elevated cortisol through a pathway mediated by aggressive interactions with peers and peer rejection. With the indirect path explained, the combination of Surgency and Poor Effortful Control also was directly and negatively associated with classroom cortisol levels. These results help explain why temperament associations with HPA activity have been variable and difficult to discern when children are assessed in peer-group contexts. In these contexts, both direct and indirect pathways between temperament and cortisol need to be examined. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 43: 343–358, 2003.
Thirty boys and 30 girls at nine day-care centers were examined at the mean age of 3.5 and 5.5 with regard to systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate and neuroendocrine activity (urinary catecholamines and cortisol) during a day at their day-care center and in their home, respectively. Compared to home levels, day-care was associated with increased heart rate, epinephrine and norepinephrine excretion and decreased cortisol levels. Systolic blood pressure decreased at the day-care centers at the age of 3.5 and increased at the age of 5.5. No significant sex differences were found. The possible role of mental and physical arousal and the dissociation between the sympathetic-adrenal medullary and the pituitary-adrenal cortical responses are discussed.
This manuscript reports on the results of 2 experiments dealing with behavioral and adrenocortical responses to separation among 9-month-old human infants. In both experiments the social context of separation was manipulated. The results of Experiment 1 yielded evidence of a statistically significant adrenocortical response to 30 min of separation under conditions in which the substitute caregiver responded sensitively to infant distress, but was busy and relatively noninteractive when babies were not distressed during the separation period. Altering the behavior of the substitute caregiver such that she was warm, responsive, and interactive throughout the separation produced a significant reduction in adrenocortical activity and in negative affect. In fact, these measures were not significantly different than those obtained when the mother and infant remained together in the playroom (No Separation). In Experiment 2, the effects of group versus singleton care were examined using the less stressful mode of substitute caregiving as described above. No significant condition differences in behavioral distress or cortisol were found. Furthermore, neither condition elicited a significant increase in cortisol over basal levels. Finally, these data provide evidence that maternal reports of infant Distress to Limits temperament, using Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire, predict adrenocortical responses to separation, while reports of Fear of Novelty do not.
The role of the mother-toddler attachment relationship in moderating the relations between behavioral inhibition and changes in salivary cortisol levels in response to novel events was examined in 77 18-month-olds. Behavioral inhibition was determined by observing toddler inhibition of approach to several novel events. Attachment security to mother was assessed using the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Changes in salivary cortisol were used to index activity of the stress-sensitive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system. In addition, toddler coping behaviors and the behaviors used by mothers to help toddlers manage novel events were examined. Elevations in cortisol were found only for inhibited toddlers in insecure attachment relationships. Mothers in these relationships appeared to interfere with their toddlers' coping efforts. These results are discussed in the context of a coping model of the relations between temperament and stress reactivity.
The assessment of cortisol in saliva has proven a valid and reliable reflection of the respective unbound hormone in blood. To date, assessment of cortisol in saliva is a widely accepted and frequently employed method in psychoneuroendocrinology. Due to several advantages over blood cortisol analyses (e.g., stress-free sampling, laboratory independence, lower costs) saliva cortisol assessment can be the method of choice in basic research and clinical environments. The determination of cortisol in saliva can facilitate stress studies including newborns and infants and replace blood sampling for diagnostic endocrine tests like the dexamethasone suppression test. The present paper provides an up-to-date overview of recent methodological developments, novel applications as well as a discussion of possible future applications of salivary cortisol determination.
Training for caregivers in day-care was investigated for its relationship to caregivers' attitudes toward children and their behavior in interactions with children. The sample consisted of 59 caregivers in 22 day-care centers on the island of Bermuda. Four different levels of training were included: 1) no training; 2) two courses of the Bermuda College training program; 3) the entire four-course Bermuda College training program; and 4) a 4-year college degree in Early Childhood Education. Caregivers with half or all the Bermuda College training were less authoritarian in their childrearing attitudes than caregivers with no training, and were rated higher on Positive Interaction and lower on Detachment in their interactions with children. Caregivers with a 4-year ECE degree were different from the other three groups; their childrearing attitudes were less authoritarian, and in interactions with children they were rated higher on Positive Interaction and lower on Punitiveness and Detachment.
This manuscript reports on the results of 2 experiments dealing with behavioral and adrenocortical responses to separation among 9-month-old human infants. In both experiments the social context of separation was manipulated. The results of Experiment 1 yielded evidence of a statistically significant adrenocortical response to 30 min of separation under conditions in which the substitute caregiver responded sensitivity to infant distress, but was busy and relatively noninteractive when babies were not distressed during the separation period. Altering the behavior of the substitute caregiver such that she was warm, responsive, and interactive throughout the separation produced a significant reduction in adrenocortical activity and in negative affect. In fact, these measures were not significantly different than those obtained when the mother and infant remained together in the playroom (No Separation). In Experiment 2, the effects of group versus singleton care were examined using the less stressful mode of substitute caregiving as described above. No significant condition differences in behavioral distress or cortisol were found. Furthermore, neither condition elicited a significant increase in cortisol over basal levels. Finally, these data provide evidence that maternal reports of infant Distress to Limits temperament, using Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire, predict adrenocortical responses to separation, while reports of Fear of Novelty do not.
The effects of maternal proximity on the behavioral and physiological responses of infant rhesus macaques during 4 days of total or adjacent separations from the mother were studied. The 6 infants tested showed behavioral responses that differentiated the two separation conditions. Major differences were found in the quantity and quality of vocalizations, the occurrence of cage-biting and cage-shaking behavior, object exploration, and hunched and freezing postures. In particular, the structure of coo vocalizations clearly discriminated between the presence or the absence of the mother during separation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of dopamine and serotonin metabolites did not discriminate between the two separation conditions but showed a transient elevation at 24 hr after separation and were not different from baseline by 96 hr after separation. In contrast, both the plasma cortisol and the CSF norepinephrine metabolite responses tended to be greater and to persist for a longer period of time when infants were totally isolated. The results are discussed within the context of attachment and coping theories.
Fifteen boys and eleven girls between three and six years of age were examined at a day-care center and at home as regards their catecholamine and cortisol excretion. Behaviour pattern was assessed by the MYTH-scale, which measures the competitiveness, impatience-anger and aggression components of the type A behaviour pattern in children (Matthews and Angulo, 1980). The boys obtained higher type A scores and excreted more adrenaline and noradrenaline than the girls, while cortisol excretion did not differ between the sexes. In view of previous findings, the results suggest that sex differences in catecholamine excretion in children are induced by sex related differences in behaviour. This relationship in childhood could be of relevance for sex differences in catecholamine responses observed in adulthood. In both sexes, adrenaline excretion was significantly elevated at the day-care center compared with the at-home levels, indicating that mental arousal was greater at the center. In a separate part of the study, eleven new children were tested while they were adjusting to the day-care situation; it was found that only noradrenaline levels during the first week at the center were significantly elevated.
(1) Separation of infant rhesus macaques from their mothers for 2 weeks induced brief plasma cortisol elevations which returned to near pre-separation levels within 24 hr. (2) Changes in locomotion and distress (whoo) calls paralleled the changes within 24 hr after separation in pituitary - adrenal activity, thus indicating a short-term biobehavioral response to separation in the infant rhesus macaque. (3) Separated infants were behaviorally agitated throughout the separation period, and some behaviors indicative of the “despair” response were infrequently observed. (4) Individual differences in pituitary - adrenal response to separation and reunion were related to aspects of the mother - infant relationship prior to separation.
The Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire (TBAQ) was constructed by an iterative process of item generation intended to ensure content validity, by repeated item analyses focused on internal consistency and discriminant properties, and by scale revision. During the construction and initial validation processes reported in this article, data from 1,012 records were utilized. Internal consistency reliability estimates typically exceeded .80 for each scale. Evidence for convergent validity with other temperament questionnaires and for longitudinal stability was also obtained. Besides yielding a promising instrument, this assessment research has conceptual ramifications. For instance, components of negative affectivity (anger proneness and fearfulness) were independent, and item analyses suggested that shyness and other fears were independent as well. Consistent with most current views of temperament, the TBAQ temperament scales revealed some relationship and/or contextual specificity, as exemplified by the finding of only moderate parental agreement. The rank ordering on most temperament dimensions was impressively preserved from age 12 months, when the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) was used, to age 18 months, when the TBAQ was used (especially when subtle differences between the IBQ and TBAQ were taken into account). Most of the analyses benefit from replication.
The relations among temperament, social competence, and levels of a stress-sensitive hormone (salivary cortisol) were examined in two studies of preschoolers children (Study 1, N = 29; Study 2, N = 46). In both studies, we sampled cortisol daily for the initial weeks of school year (Group Formation period) and for several weeks later in the year (Familiar Group period). For each child, we examined two measures of cortisol activity (separately for each period) based on the distribution of cortisol levels across days: (a) median cortisol (50th percentile) and (b) cortisol reactivity (the difference between the 75th and 50th percentile). Median cortisol was modestly stable across periods, but cortisol reactivity was not. Children who showed high cortisol reactivity (75th minus 50th percentile > or = 0.10 micrograms/dl) during the Group Formation period but low-to-normal cortisol reactivity during the Familiar Group period were outgoing, competent, and well liked by their peers. In contrast, children who changed from low/normal to high cortisol reactivity and those who maintained high cortisol reactivity from the Group Formation to Familiar Group period were affectively negative and solitary. Children who showed high median cortisol during the Familiar Group period or over both periods scored lower on a measure of attentional and inhibitory control. Together, these results suggest that relations among temperament, social competence, and neuroendocrine reactivity reflect both individual and contextual differences.
It is important to distinguish theory testing from effect-size evaluation when considering the impact of mothering on attachment security discerned in the De Wolff and van Ijzendoorn meta-analysis. Moreover, the possibility exists that this analysis both over- and underestimates mothering effects, as would be the case if infants vary in their susceptibility to rearing influence.
We examined 10:30 a.m. salivary cortisol levels in twenty-four 2-year-old children at home, and then at several points during transition into preschool: Week 1, Weeks 6-9, and the 1st week following a month-long holiday break. Cortisol levels did not increase when the children first started school as compared to either home or later school levels. Cortisol levels were correlated across similar, but not across dissimilar, psychosocial contexts. Home levels were correlated wit more shy, anxious, internalizing behavior while the response to starting school was correlated with more assertive, angry, and aggressive behavior. Behavior was assessed using parent temperament reports, teacher reports, and observational measures. We conclude that HPA activity as indexed by salivary cortisol measures is differentially associated with behavior in familiar and novel contexts. Consistent with our prior work, shy/anxious behavior is not significantly associated with elevations in cortisol when young children enter new social situations.
The relations between social behavior and daily patterns of a stress-sensitive hormone production were examined in preschool children (N = 75) attending center-based child care. Three behavioral dimensions, shy/anxious/internalizing, angry/aggressive/externalizing, and social competence, were assessed by teacher report and classroom observation, and their relations with 2 measures of cortisol activity, median (or typical) levels and reactivity (quartile range score between second and third quartile values) were explored. Cortisol-behavior relations differed by gender: significant associations were found for boys but not for girls. Specifically, for boys externalizing behavior was positively associated with cortisol reactivity, while internalizing behavior was negatively associated with median cortisol. Time of day of cortisol measurement affected the results. Surprisingly, median cortisol levels rose from morning to afternoon, a pattern opposite to that of the typical circadian rhythm of cortisol. This rise in cortisol over the day was positively correlated with internalizing behavior for boys. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings for the study of the development of hormone-behavior relations are discussed.
Previous studies comparing plasma cortisol levels in mother-reared and nursery-reared rhesus monkey infants under baseline and stress conditions have reported conflicting findings. Differences in subject age, procedures, and specific rearing history may account for many of the discrepant findings. In the present study, mother-reared infants from large social groups, peer-only reared animals, and infants reared with surrogates and limited peer contact were studied in different test conditions across the first 6 months of life. Infants were sampled under three conditions: following a neonatal assessment at Days 14 and 30, immediately upon capture on Day 60, and after 30-min isolation periods on Days 90, 120, and 150. Mother-reared infants exhibited higher cortisol levels on Days 14 and 30 than did both types of nursery-reared infants. In addition, Day 60 basal values of mother-reared infants were higher than those of both peer-reared and surrogate/peer-reared infants. However, on Days 90, 120, and 150, both mother-reared and peer-reared infants exhibited higher cortisol levels in response to separation and 30-min isolation than did the surrogate/peer-reared infants. These differences may reflect group-specific variations in physical environment, capture time, feeding regimen, or diurnal HPA axis rhythms.
Cortisol levels of 70 children, aged 39-106 months, were sampled at home and at their full-day childcare centers at two times of day, mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Parents and teachers completed questionnaires assessing child temperament (negative affectivity, surgency or extroversion, and effortful control) and aggressive behavior. The results replicated a previous study showing increases in cortisol levels over the day at childcare for preschool-aged children, while home levels followed the expected circadian decrease in cortisol from morning to afternoon for most children regardless of age. At childcare, 3- and 4-year olds were more likely to show elevations in cortisol by mid-afternoon than were older children. Controlling statistically for age, shyness for boys, and poor self-control and aggression for both sexes were associated with increases in cortisol over the day at childcare. The results suggest that younger children and those with more immature social skills may frequently experience elevations in cortisol as the day progresses in group care contexts.
Postnatal rearing conditions influence the development of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) responses to stress in the rat. Thus, postnatal handling dampens HPA responsivity to stress, while prolonged periods of maternal separation have the opposite effect. HPA responses to stress are initiated by the release of corticotropin-releasing factor and/or arginine vasopressin from the neurones of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVNh). A major source of input to the PVNh arises from brainstem noradrenergic neurones with signalling occurring via alpha1 adrenoreceptors. We examined the noradrenergic response to stress in the PVNh in adult animals exposed to daily periods of handling or maternal separation over the first 2 weeks of life using microdialysis in conscious animals. Maternal separation increased, while handling greatly decreased and norepinepherine responses to restraint stress in the PVNh as compared to non-handled controls; the same pattern was observed for plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) responses to stress. Rearing condition did not affect either alpha1 or alpha2 receptor levels in the PVNh. However, alpha2 receptor binding levels in the noradrenergic cell body regions of the locus coeruleus and the n. tractus solitarius were significantly increased in handled animals. These alpha2 receptors are principally located on noradrenergic neurones (i.e. autoreceptors) and inhibit noradrenaline release at terminal sites. The effects on alpha2 receptor levels could serve as a mechanism for the differences in stress-induced noradrenaline levels in the PVNh and in HPA activity among handled vs non-handled and maternal separation animals. Thus, early life events may serve to influence the differentiation of noradrenergic neurones and thus alter HPA responses stress in adulthood.
The current study investigated whether patterns of cortisol production in preschool-aged children in group care were influenced by characteristics such as group size, adult:child ratio, separation from family/parents, and quality of attention and stimulation from the childcare provider. Data were obtained from preschoolers attending home-based childcare. Cortisol levels were sampled at home and at childcare. Parents and teachers assessed the child's temperament (CBQ, TBQ). At childcare, the children were observed using the Observational Ratings of the Caregiving Environment (ORCE). Childcare characteristics were independent of family or child characteristics. In home-based childcare, children's cortisol patterns over the day correlated significantly with the amount of attention and stimulation provided by the childcare provider. Using a median split on the quality index measure of focused attention/stimulation, children in settings that were above the median exhibited no change in cortisol from home to childcare, while those in settings below the median exhibited a reversal of the typical pattern of cortisol production from morning to afternoon. At home these children exhibited the expected decrease in cortisol from morning to afternoon. Patterns of cortisol production at childcare were also correlated with child temperament with larger increases from morning to afternoon for more emotionally negative children and those with less self-control. Finally, cortisol production in home-based childcare was compared to data from children in center-based childcare and children not enrolled in full-day childcare.
Sixty-one 3- to 5-year-old nursery school children participated in a study of tempera ment and stress responses to competition. Each child individually participated in a competition against a familiar adult experimenter to determine who would win enough games to receive a prize. After initially winning three games (Win Period), the children lost the next three games (Lose Period), before winning the final games and receiving the prize. Salivary cortisol, vagal tone, affect and turn-taking behavior were measured in response to the competition and examined in relation to child temperament using a teacher-report version of the Child Behavior Questionnaire. Behavioral measures indicated that the procedures were emotionally engaging and the threat of losing was aversive. Surgency (extroversion) was positively correlated with positive affect during Win periods and tense/angry affect during the Lose period of the competition. Vagal tone decreased as the children began to play against the adult and children who were more tense/angry while losing showed additional suppression of vagal tone when they began to lose the competition. Most of the children did not show a cortisol response to the competition; however, the 15% who increased cortisol (responses >1 SD of classroom baselines) were described by teachers as more surgent and lower in effortful control. All but one of these children who increased in cortisol was male. Cortisol responsive children also displayed higher levels of tense/angry affect during the Lose period. Surgent, extroverted children appear to be vulnerable to competition stress.
Other papers in this special edition provide evidence to implicate activity of the limbic hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (L-HPA) system in the etiology of drug and alcohol abuse. Furthermore, studies in rodents and primates suggest that responsivity and regulation of this system later in life may be shaped by social experiences during early development. Cortisol is the major hormonal product of the L-HPA system in humans. Although it provides only a partial understanding of the activity of this neuroendocrine axis, its regulation may bear importantly on human growth and development. We review developmental studies of cortisol and behavior in human children, birth to approximately 5 years of age. We describe the development of social buffering of cortisol responses that produces a functional analogue of the rodent stress hyporesponsive period by the time children are about 12 months of age. We further describe the sensitivity of cortisol activity to variations in care quality among infants and toddlers, along with evidence that children with negative emotional temperaments may be most likely to exhibit elevations in cortisol under conditions of less than optimal care. Finally, the few studies of cortisol activity under conditions of neglectful and abusive care of young children are considered, noting that these often have yielded evidence of reduced rather than increased cortisol levels.
An unexpected rise in cortisol across the day in full-day, center-based childcare has been recently observed. Most of the children in these studies exhibited the rise across the day at childcare, but the expected drop at home. Possible explanations include more or less napping at childcare than at home. This study measured cortisol during childcare at 10:30 a.m., pre-rest, post-rest, and 3:30 p.m. for 35 children, and at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. at home for 8 children. Duration and quality of rest were coded during nap periods. For 91% of children, cortisol rose at childcare and for 75% dropped at home. None of the napping variables were related to the rise at childcare nor were differences found between home and childcare rest. Factors other than daytime rest periods seem likely to account for the rise in cortisol across the childcare day, possibly factors involving the interactional demands of group settings during this developmental period.
The purpose of the present study was to identify predictors of children's cortisol responses after the transition to kindergarten. Morning salivary cortisol was measured in 50 children 1 week before and 1 week after they began kindergarten. Children who experienced a greater degree of change between their preschool and kindergarten routines and who had infrequent preschool experiences exhibited the largest increases in morning cortisols after kindergarten entry. Children whose parents indicated that they would have an easier, rather than more difficult, time adapting to kindergarten also tended to be more reactive in their morning cortisol levels after kindergarten entry. Results provide new insight into experiential and individual-difference factors that predict children's physiological reactivity and self-regulation during times of transition and potential stress.
Cortisol is the final product of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. It is secreted in a pulsatile fashion that displays a circadian rhythm. Infants are born without a circadian rhythm in cortisol and they acquire it during their first year of life. Studies do not agree on the age of appearance of the circadian rhythm (varying between 2 weeks till the age of 9 months) nor on whether it is related to the appearance of the sleep-wake circadian rhythm. The object of the present study was to find evidence of the age of appearance of the diurnal rhythm of cortisol and to compare the results obtained by several different analysis methods on a new data set.
Cortisol was determined in salival samples of 14 normally developing infants who were followed monthly between the ages of 2 and 5 months. The data were analyzed with several previously published analysis methods as well as with Multilevel Analysis (Hierarchical Linear Modeling).
The previously published analysis methods each produced different results when applied to the current data set. Moreover, our results indicate striking differences between young infants in both age of appearance and stability of the diurnal cortisol rhythm. Also, a link was found between the appearance of the sleep-wake circadian rhythm and the cortisol circadian rhythm. An important intraindividual variability in cortisol levels was found even after correcting for the different variables that affect cortisol (i.e. time of sampling, feeding, etc.).
Although the choice of analysis method influences the age of appearance obtained, our use of HLM shows that the infants' own variability in onset and stability of the cortisol circadian rhythm greatly contributes to the different results.
This study examined salivary cortisol, a stress-sensitive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis hormone in 20 infants (12 females; M age = 10.8 months) and 35 toddlers (20 females; M age = 29.7 months) in full-day, center-based child care. Samples were taken at approximately 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at child care and at home. At child care, 35% of infants and 71% of toddlers showed a rise in cortisol across the day; at home, 71% of infants and 64% of toddlers showed decreases. Toddlers who played more with peers exhibited lower cortisol. Controlling age, teacher-reported social fearfulness predicted higher afternoon cortisol and larger cortisol increases across the day at child care. This phenomenon may indicate context-specific activation of the HPA axis early in life.
Early adverse experiences represent risk factors for the development of anxiety and mood disorders. Studies in nonhuman primates have largely focused on the impact of protracted maternal and social deprivation, but such intense manipulations also result in severe social and emotional deficits very difficult to remediate. This study attempts to model more subtle developmental perturbations that may increase the vulnerability for anxiety/mood disorders but lack the severe deficits associated with motherless rearing.
We investigated the consequences of repeated maternal separations between 3 to 6 months of age on rhesus monkeys' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function and acoustic startle reactivity.
Repetitive maternal separation led to increased cortisol reactivity to the separation protocol in female infants and alterations in mother-infant interaction. It also resulted in a flattened diurnal rhythm of cortisol secretion and increased acoustic startle reactivity at later ages.
Macaques with adverse rearing exhibited short-term and long-term alterations in HPA axis function and increased acoustic startle response comparable with changes associated with mood/anxiety disorders. The magnitude of HPA axis reactivity to the separations and the alterations in mother-infant relationship detected during the separation protocol predicted some of the alterations in HPA axis and emotionality exhibited later in life.
A mammal's early social environment has important regulatory effects on its behavior and physiology, and this is especially true for regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system. The present study was designed to test hypotheses that various aspects of the social environment are important influences on HPA regulation. Seven hundred seventy eight, 3- to 4-month-old rhesus monkeys were studied as part of a standardized, 24-hr biobehavioral assessment program, which included blood sampling to determine plasma cortisol concentrations. Results indicate that nursery-rearing results in a reduced cortisol set-point for the HPA system, and, for nursery-reared (NR) animals, more peer exposure during infancy is associated with a higher set-point. Age and sex differences during this period were evident but small in magnitude. These data demonstrate the important regulatory role of the social environment on nonhuman primate physiology and suggest caution in assuming that differences between individuals' cortisol levels reflect only differences in perceptions of the "stressfulness" of events.
The unique relations of effortful control and impulsivity to resiliency and adjustment were examined when children were 4.5 to 8 years old, and 2 years later. Parents and teachers reported on all constructs and children's attentional persistence was observed. In concurrent structural equation models, effortful control and impulsivity uniquely and directly predicted resiliency and externalizing problems and indirectly predicted internalizing problems (through resiliency). Teacher-reported anger moderated the relations of effortful control and impulsivity to externalizing problems. In the longitudinal model, all relations held at T2 except for the path from impulsivity to externalizing problems. Evidence of bidirectional effects also was obtained. The results indicate that effortful control and impulsivity are distinct constructs with some unique prediction of resiliency and adjustment.