Patterns of cortisol reactivity in African‐American neonates from low‐income environments

Abstract

Individual differences and stability in patterns of salivary cortisol reactivity were examined in 100 African American neonates from low-income environments. A pattern of reactivity was defined by the change from prestressor to poststressor cortisol concentrations and the change following the poststressor during a recovery phase. Cortisol reactivity was measured in response to two stressors: the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS; T. B. Brazelton & J. K. Nugent) and the routine hospital heel-stick procedure. The use of two stressors allowed an examination of whether patterns of reactivity to different stimuli vary and whether there is individual stability in patterns of cortisol reactivity. Cortisol concentrations changed significantly across the three time points. The magnitude of change during the recovery period differed across stressors. Prestressor cortisol values were associated with cortisol reactivity. Both prestressor cortisol concentrations and pattern of cortisol response were significantly associated within individuals. Keywordsneonates; African Americans; cortisol; individual differences Two areas of research on cortisol response in children have been conducted simultaneously, but have not yet fully converged. The first is the role of neuroendocrine functioning on infant regulation. In particular, changes in cortisol levels have been used as an index of stress reactivity in infants. Much of the research on infant cortisol response has been on documenting normative patterns of maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system. To date, research by a number of investigators has led to significant contributions toward the understanding of the effects of environmental and birth conditions (Gunnar, Isensee, & Fust, 1987;Gunnar, Larson, Hertsgaard, Harris, & Brodersen, 1992;Larson, Gunnar & Hertsgaard, 1991), diurnal variation (Lewis & Thomas, 1990), and developmental changes (Gunnar, Broderson, Krueger, & Rigatuso, 1996;Lewis & Ramsay, 1995a;Ramsay & Lewis, 1994) on the infant's baseline cortisol and cortisol response to stress.Concurrently, developmental psychopathologists have focused on the association between certain types of psychopathology and individual differences in cortisol, both resting levels and reactivity. In some studies, low resting cortisol is associated with conduct problems whereas high resting cortisol is associated with depression and anxiety, with children with comorbid anxiety and conduct disorder having the highest resting cortisol (Granger, Stansbury, & Henker, 1994;McBurnett et al., 1991; McBurnett, Lahey, Rathouz, & Loeben, 2000). Because psychopathology and cortisol were measured concurrently in the majority of The point at which these two literatures need to converge is at the level of individual differences in cortisol response very early in life, before the onset of psychopathology. One possible developmental trajectory to psychopathology is via early deficits in emotional regulation. Patterns of cortisol response may be indicative of suc...

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