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Maternal sensitivity and adrenocortical functioning across infancy and toddlerhood: Physiological adaptation to context?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2016

Daniel Berry ,
Clancy Blair ,
Michael Willoughby ,
Douglas A. Granger ,
W. Roger Mills-Koonce  and
the Family Life Project Key Investigators
Daniel Berry*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign
Clancy Blair
Affiliation:
New York University
Michael Willoughby
Affiliation:
RTI International
Douglas A. Granger
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University Arizona State University
W. Roger Mills-Koonce
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
the Family Life Project Key Investigators
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Pennsylvania State University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Daniel Berry, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education #230B, University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820; E-mail: djberry@illinois.edu.
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Abstract

Theory suggests that early experiences may calibrate the “threshold activity” of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis in childhood. Particularly challenging or particularly supportive environments are posited to manifest in heightened physiological sensitivity to context. Using longitudinal data from the Family Life Project (N = 1,292), we tested whether links between maternal sensitivity and hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis activity aligned with these predictions. Specifically, we tested whether the magnitude of the within-person relation between maternal sensitivity and children's cortisol levels, a proxy for physiological sensitivity to context, was especially pronounced for children who typically experienced particularly low or high levels of maternal sensitivity over time. Our results were consistent with these hypotheses. Between children, lower levels of mean maternal sensitivity (7–24 months) were associated with higher mean cortisol levels across this period (measured as a basal sample collected at each visit). However, the magnitude and direction of the within-person relation was contingent on children's average levels of maternal sensitivity over time. Increases in maternal sensitivity were associated with contemporaneous cortisol decreases for children with typically low-sensitive mothers, whereas sensitivity increases were associated with cortisol increases for children with typically high-sensitive mothers. No within-child effects were evident at moderate levels of maternal sensitivity.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 29 , Special Issue 1: Developmental and Social–Ecological Perspectives on Children, Political Violence, and Armed Conflict , February 2017 , pp. 303 - 317
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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