The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is sensitive to early life stress, with enduring consequences for biological stress vulnerability and health (Gunnar & Talge, 2008). Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with dysregulation of the stress hormone cortisol in early childhood. However, a mechanistic understanding of this association is lacking. Multidimensional assessment of both SES and cortisol is needed to characterize the intricate relations between SES and cortisol function in early childhood. We assessed parent-reported family income, parent education, occupational prestige, neighborhood risk, food insecurity, and household chaos for 12-month-old infants (N = 90) and 3.5-year-old children (N = 91). Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) was obtained from parent and child, indexing chronic biological stress, and diurnal salivary cortisol was measured in the children. Controlling for parent HCC, parent education uniquely predicted infant and child HCC and, in addition, neighborhood risk uniquely predicted infant HCC. Household chaos predicted bedtime salivary cortisol concentration (SCC) for both infants and children, and infant daily cortisol output. Food insecurity was associated with flattened cortisol slope in 3.5-year-old children. Parental sensitivity did not mediate relations between SES and cortisol. Results highlight the utility of SES measures that index unpredictable and unsafe contexts, such as neighborhood risk, food insecurity, and household chaos.

Successful emotion regulation facilitates children's coping with everyday stress. It develops rapidly in the early preschool period. However, no work has been done to investigate the potential buffering role of emotion regulation from cumulative physiological effects of stress. In this study, we examined hair cortisol concentration (HCC), an early marker of chronic physiological stress, socioeconomic status (SES), parental sensitivity, and emotion regulation and reactivity in a sample of 3.5‐year‐old children (N = 86). Emotion regulation and emotional reactivity were independent of child HCC. However, emotion regulation moderated the relationship between parent and child HCC. For children with better emotion regulation, there was no association between parent and child HCC, suggesting that emotion regulation skills buffered the transgenerational effects of chronic physiological stress. Emotional reactivity moderated the relationship between SES and child HCC, and attenuated the association between parental sensitivity and child HCC. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that children who were less emotionally reactive were less susceptible to their environments. Results provide support that child emotion regulation and emotional reactivity can reduce or strengthen the relationship between established risk factors and levels of chronic physiological stress in early childhood.

Good comparisons of development sequences have been made in the past. The model of hierarchical complexity is one developmental sequence which has often been compared to other developmental sequences including: Piaget & Inhelder (1969);Fischer & Bidell (1998); Kohlberg's (1987a, 1987b) 9 point stages and moral maturity scores (mms) of moral judgment. However, Colby and Kohlberg's 13 point scale has never been assessed in making comparisons to other scales. The current paper constructed a comparison table of all five models, including Colby and Kohlberg's 13 point scale, which together cover the developmental stages of an entire life-span. Adjustments had to be made to the 9 point and 13 point scales. The formula, ohc = 3 + 2 * (Stage of Colby & Kohlberg's), was introduced to demonstrate the relationship between the orders of hierarchical complexity and Kohlberg's stages of development.

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Developmental Behavior Analytic Therapy (dbat) is the first behavioral therapy with developmental underpinnings. This paper introduces dbat by presenting a composite case study. It also discusses the theoretical underpinnings of this therapy. dbat aims to help individuals with behavioral problems change specific problem behaviors that consequently help them to lead more satisfying lives. It aims to alter specific behavioral problems, because the biological susceptibility to such behavioral problems is a given. It is suggested that this therapy be used as an adjunct to conventional therapies that specialize in helping individuals cope with behavioral problems. dbat is different from other contemporary or behavioral analytic therapies, as it integrates a behavioral developmental stage model, the Model of Hierarchical Complexity (mhc), into its working. The foundation of this therapy is the theory that behavioral developmental stages and value of consequences of a behavior interact to predict an individual's behavior, and also suggests that behavioral problems affect both behavioral developmental stage and value of consequences.