Work/non-workday differences in mother, child, and mother–child morning cortisol in a sample of working mothers and their children

Abstract

Background Mothers have been shown to have higher morning cortisol on days they go to work compared to non-workdays; however, it is unknown how maternal workday associates with child morning cortisol or the attunement of mother-child morning cortisol. Aims This study examined the presence and stability of morning cortisol levels and slopes (i.e., cortisol awakening response or CAR) in a sample of 2 – 4 year old children in out-of-home child care with working mothers. In addition, we examined the differential contributions of maternal workday on mother-child attunement in morning cortisol. Method Mother and child morning cortisol was sampled twice a day (awakening and 30 minutes later) across four consecutive days (2 non-workdays; 2 workdays) among 47 working mothers and their young children. Mothers also reported on compliance with sampling procedures and provided demographic information. Results While children exhibited stability in cortisol levels, children’s CARs were variable, with children’s non-work CARs not predictive of work CARs. Similarly, a significant morning rise in cortisol was only found on workdays, not non-workdays. Overall, mothers had higher cortisol levels and steeper CARs than their children. Further, maternal workday moderated the attunement of mother-child CARs, such that mothers and children had concordant cortisol levels on non-workdays, but discordant cortisol levels on workdays. Conclusions Morning cortisol may be more variable in pre-school aged children than adults but may be similarly responsive to the social environment. Further, workday mornings may be a time of reduced mother-child cortisol attunement.

Neurobiology of infant attachment: attachment despite adversity and parental programming of emotionality

“…For example, parental presence regulates stress hormones [15,16] and brain activity in children [17,18], but not adolescents [18,19]. While few human researchers have studied brain activity in infancy during caregiver-infant interactions, the evidence thus far further supports parental regulation of the developing infant brain [20,21].…”

“…Researchers are now exploring what specific aspects of sensitive caregiving promote optimal emotional development in humans, and have identified two main elements of sensitive caregiving that provide the greatest benefits, even in adverse environments: nurturance to the infant, such as sensitivity following a distressful event [44,45], and synchrony, such as caregiver responsiveness to a child’s bid [15,46]. These aspects of sensitive caregiving are associated with many behavioral and physiological outcomes, with parental regulation of infant physiology hypothesized as a mediator [47].…”

Maternal‐child adrenocortical attunement in early childhood: Continuity and change

“…Recently there has been increased interest in this phenomenon. Studies reveal “attunement” or “coregulation” in mother–child cortisol at multiple time points across the day (Hibel, Trumbell, & Mercado, 2014; Middlemiss, Granger, Goldberg, & Nathans, 2012; Papp, Pendry, & Adam, 2009) and across childhood (Atkinson et al, 2013; Hibel, Granger, Blair, & Cox 2009; Laurent, Ablow, & Measelle, 2012; Ruttle, Serbin, Stack, Schwartzman, & Shirtcliff, 2011; Sethre-Hofstad, Stansbury, & Rice, 2002). A core component of human and nonhuman primate sociality, which is particularly characteristic of mother–child relationships, rests on the deeply emotional connection experienced by bonded individuals.…”

The Neuro-Environmental Loop of Plasticity: A Cross-Species Analysis of Parental Effects on Emotion Circuitry Development Following Typical and Adverse Caregiving

“…Taken together, the studies described so far collectively show that childhood is a developmentally unique period for parental buffering of CORT, emotional responding, amygdala reactivity, and amygdala-mPFC connectivity (see, eg, Decety et al, 2012;Egliston and Rapee, 2007;GabardDurnam et al, 2014;Gee et al, 2013bGee et al, , 2014Hibel et al, 2014b;Middlemiss et al, 2012;Sullivan, 2004, 2006;Papp et al, 2009;Seltzer et al, 2010Seltzer et al, , 2012Silvers et al, 2014;Sorce et al, 1985;Sullivan et al, 2000;Swartz et al, 2014;Vink et al, 2014). Importantly, we believe that the role of the parent in phasic modulation of the amygdala and mPFC is critical for circuit tone and for the long-term effectiveness of the circuit in emotion regulation.…”

“…Specifically, infants were more likely to cross to the deep side of a visual cliff if their mother was expressing positive emotion than when she was expressing negative emotion (Sorce et al, 1985). Similarly, infants and mothers appear to exhibit adrenocortical 'attunement' (ie, similar fluctuations in CORT patterns) across the day (see, eg, Hibel et al, 2014b;Middlemiss et al, 2012;Papp et al, 2009). In addition, the mere presence of a parent can influence children's performance on an affect regulation task, where it was shown to increase levels of inhibitory control .…”