Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T22:15:08.525Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Salivary cortisol in maltreated children: Evidence of relations between neuroendocrine activity and social competence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

Jordan Hart ,
Megan Gunnar  and
Dante Cicchetti
Jordan Hart
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Megan Gunnar*
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Dante Cicchetti
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
*
Megan Gunnar, Institute of Child Development, 51 East River Rd., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Salivary cortisol concentrations (10:30–11:30 a.m.) and social behavior (observations and teacher reports) were examined in 33 maltreated (26 boys) and 16 comparison (8 boys) children. The maltreated children were studied for 31 days while they attended a therapeutic preschool for abused and neglected children. Children in the comparison sample were studied while attending a preschool serving economically disadvantaged families. Each child's cortisol values over days were used to compute measures of basal activity (median cortisol) and reactivity (ratio of quartile ranges). Median cortisol was not significantly correlated with social behavior measures. Cortisol reactivity was positively correlated with social competence and negatively correlated with shy/internalizing behavior. Maltreated children exhibited less cortisol reactivity then did comparison children. Maltreated children also scored lower in social competence and higher in shy/internalizing and acting out/externalizing behaviors. In additional analyses, maltreated children failed to show elevations in cortisol on days of high versus low social conflict in the classroom. Social competence was also found to correlate positively with cortisol levels on high-conflict days. In all, the results suggest a reduction in cortisol reactivity in maltreated children related to the impairment in social competence frequently noted among these children.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 7 , Issue 1: Emotions in Developmental Psychopathology , Winter 1995 , pp. 11 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Carlson, V., Cicchetti, D., Barnett, D., & Braunwald, K. (1989). Finding order in disorganization: Lessons from research on maltreated infants' attachments to their caregivers. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of chil abuse and neglect (pp. 494–528). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1989). Developmental psychopathology: Past, present, and future. In Cicchetti, D. (Ed.), Rochester symposium on developmental psychopathology: Vol. 1: The emergence of a discipline (pp. 1–12). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1993). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflection, projections. Developmental Review, 13, 471–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Barnett, D. (1991). Attachment organization in maltreated preschoolers. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 397–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Carlson, V. (Eds.) (1989). Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F., Lynch, M., & Holt, K. (1993). Resilience in maltreated children: Processes leading to adaptive outcome. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 629–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (in press). Developmental psychopathology and disorders of affect. In Cicchetti, D. and Cohen, D. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 2: Risk, disorder, and adaptation. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Tucker, D. (1994). Development and self-regulatory structures of the mind. Development and Psychopathology, 6 (4).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, A. S. (1993). Social rearing effects on HPA activity over early development and in response to stress in rhesus monkeys. Developmental Psychobiology, 26, 433–446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crittenden, P. M., & Ainsworth, M. (1989). Attachment and child abuse. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 432–463). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummings, E. M., Hennessey, K. D., Rabideau, G. J., & Cicchetti, D. (1994). Responses of physically abused boys to interadult anger involving their mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 31–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahl, R. E., Ryan, N. D., Puig-Antich, J., Nguyen, N., Al-Shabbout, M., Meyer, V. A., & Perel, J. (1991). 24-hour cortisol measures in adolescents with major depression: A controlled study. Biological Psychiatry, 30, 25–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
deVries, M. W. (1992). The experience of psychopathology in natural settings: Introduction and illustration of variables. In deVries, M. W. (Ed.), The experience of psychopathology: Investigating mental disorders in their natural settings (pp. 3–26). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gold, P. W., Goodwin, F. K., & Chrousos, G. P. (1988). Clinical and biochemical manifestations of depression: Relation to the neurobiology of stress. New England Journal of Medicine, 314, 348–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hennessy, K. D., Rabideau, G. J., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, E. M. (1994). Responses of physically abused and nonabused children to different forms of interadult anger. Child Development, 65, 815–828.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hertsgaard, L., Gunnar, M., Erikson, M. F., & Nachmias, M. (in press). Adrenocortical responses to the Strange Situation in infants with disorganized/disoriented attachment relationships. Child Development.Google Scholar
Hightower, A. D., Spinell, A. P., & Lotyczewski, B. S. (1989). T-CRS Guidelines. Primary Mental Health Project, Inc.Google Scholar
Hightower, A. D., Work, W. C., Cowen, E. L., Lotyczewski, B. S., Spinell, A. P., Guare, J. C., & Rohrbeck, C. A. (1986). The Teacher-Child Rating Scale: A brief objective measure of elementary children's school problem behaviors and competencies. School Psychology Review, 15 (3), 393–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinshaw, S. P., Han, S. S., Erhardt, D., & Huber, A. (1992). Internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems in preschool children: Correspondence among parent and teacher ratings and behavior observations. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21 (2), 143–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four factor index of social status. Unpublished manuscript: Yale University.Google Scholar
Kagan, J., & Snidman, N. (1991). Temperamental factors in human development. American Scientist, 856–862.Google Scholar
Kalin, N. H., & Takahashi, L. K. (1990). Fearmotivated behavior induced by prior shock experience is mediated by corticotropin-releasing hormone systems. Brain Research, 509, 80–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaufman, J. (1991). Depressive disorders in maltreated children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 50 (2), 257–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufman, J., & Cicchetti, D. (1989). The Effects of Maltreatment on School-aged Children's Socioemotional Development: Assessments in a Day Camp Setting. Developmental Psychology, 25, 516–524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kazdin, A. E., Moser, J., Colbus, D., & Bell, R. (1985). Depressive symptoms among physically abused and psychiatrically disturbed children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94 (3), 298–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levine, S., Haltmeyer, G. C., Karas, G. G., & Denenberg, V. H. (1967). Physiological behavioral effects of infantile stimulation. Physiology and behavior, 2, 55–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, M., & Cicchetti, D. (1991). Patterns of relatedness in maltreated and nonmaltreated children: Connections among multiple representational models. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 207–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Makino, S., Gold, R. W., & Schulkin, J. (1994). Corticosterone effects on corticotropin-releasing hormone MRNA in the central nucleus of the amygdala and the parvocellular region of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Brain Research, 649, 105–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Main, M., & George, C. (1985). Responses of abused and disadvantaged toddlers to distress in agemates: A study in the daycare setting. Developmental Psychology, 21, 407–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manly, J. T., Cicchetti, D., & Barnett, D. (1994). The impact of subtype, frequency, chronicity, and severity of child maltreatment on social competence and behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 121–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, J. M. (1968). A review of psychoendocrine research on the pituitary-adrenal cortical system. Psychosomatic Medicine, 30, 576–608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mattson, A., Gross, S., & Hall, T. W. (1971). Psychoendocrine study of adaptation in young hemophiliacs. Psychosomatic Medicine, 33, 215–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meany, M. J., Aitken, D. H., Viau, V., Sharma, S., & Sarieau, A. (1989). Neonatal handling alters negative feedback sensitivity and hippocampal type II glucocorticoid receptor binding in the rat. Neuroendocrinology, 50, 597–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montagner, H., Henry, J. C., Lombardot, M., Benedini, M., Burnod, J., & Nicolas, R. M. (1978). Behavioural profiles and corticosteroid excretion rhythms in young children Part 2: Circadian and weekly rhythms in corticosteroid excretion levels of children as indicators of adaptation to social context. In Reynolds, V. & Jones, N. G. Blurton (Eds.), Human behavior and adaptation (pp. 229–265). London: Francis & Taylor.Google Scholar
Mueller, E., & Silverman, N. (1989). Peer relations in maltreated children. In Cicchetti, D. & Carlson, V. (Eds.), Child maltreatment: Theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp. 529–578). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munck, A., Guyre, P. M., & Holbrook, N. J. (1984). Physiological functions of glucocorticoids in stress and their relation to pharmacological actions. Endocrine Reviews, 5 (1), 25–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nachmias, M., Gunnar, M., Mangelsdorf, S., Parritz, R., & Buss, K.Behavioral inhibition and stress reactivity: The moderating role of attachment security. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Nicolson, N. A. (1992). Stress, coping and cortisol dynamics in daily life. In deVries, M. W. (Ed.), The experience of psychopathology: Investigating mental disorders in their natural settings (pp. 219–232). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, F. W., Trickett, P. K., Helmers, K., Susman, E. J., Dorn, L., & Everett, B. (1991, 05). Cortisol abnormalities in sexually abused girls. In New research programs and abstracts, 144th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Rose, R. M. (1980). Endocrine responses to stressful psychological events. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 5 (2), 251–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, R. M., Jenkins, C. D., Hurst, M., Livingston, L., & Hall, R. P. (1982). Endocrine activity in air traffic controllers at work. I. Characterization of cortisol and growth hormone levels during the day. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 7 (23), 101–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sapolsky, R. M., Krey, L. C., & McEwen, B. S. (1985). Prolonged glucocorticoid exposure reduces hippocampal neuron number: Implications for aging. Journal of Neuroscience, 5, 1222–1227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shields, A. M., Cicchetti, D., & Ryan, R. M. (1994). The development of emotional and behavioral self regulation and social competence among maltreated school-age children. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 57–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spangler, G., & Grossman, K. E. (1993). Biobehavioral organization in securely and insecurely attached infants. Child Development, 64, 1439–1450.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spangler, G., & Schieche, M. (06, 1994). The role of maternal sensitivity and quality of infant-mother attachment for infant biobehavioral organization. Paper presented at the Ninth International Conference of Infant Studies: Paris, France.Google Scholar
Toth, S. L., Manly, J. T., & Cicchetti, D. (1992). Child maltreatment and vulnerability to depression. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 97–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Troy, M., & Sroufe, L. A. (1987). Victimization among preschoolers: Role of attachment relationship history. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 26, 166–172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinberg, J., Gunnar, M., Brett, L. P., Gonzalez, C. A., & Levine, S. (1982). Sex differences in biobehavioral responses to conflict in a taste aversion paradigm. Physiology and behavior, 29, 201–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yehuda, R., Giller, E. L., Southwick, S. M., Lowy, M. T., & Mason, J. W. (1991). Hypothalamicpituitary adrenal dysfunction in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 30, 1031–1048.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yehuda, R., Resnick, H., Kahana, B., & Giller, E. L. (1993). Long-lasting hormonal alterations to extreme stress in humans: Normative or maladaptive? Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 287–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed