Citation

Hibel LC, Mercado E. Child Dev. 2019; 90(1): e80-e95.

Affiliation

University of California, Los Angeles.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/cdev.13010

PMID

29266194

Abstract

Employing an experimental design, mother-to-infant transmission of stress was examined. Mothers (N = 117) were randomized to either have a positive or conflictual discussion with their marital partners, after which infants (age = 6 months) participated in a fear and frustration task. Saliva samples were collected to assess maternal cortisol responses to the discussion and infant cortisol responses to the challenge task.

RESULTS indicate maternal cortisol reactivity and recovery to the conflict (but not positive) discussion predicted infant cortisol reactivity to the infant challenge. Mothers' positive affect during the discussion buffered, and intrusion during the free-play potentiated, mother-to-infant adrenocortical transmission. These findings advance our understanding of the social and contextual regulation of adrenocortical activity in early childhood.

© 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Language: en