Change in toddlers’ cortisol activity during a year in childcare. Associations with childcare quality, child temperament, well-being and maternal education

Do toddlers’ levels of cortisol and the perceptions of parents and professional caregivers tell the same story about transition from home to childcare? A mixed method study

“…In childcare, cortisol levels are found to have an atypical development, in that they are somewhat higher in the afternoon as compared to the morning. This primarily applies to toddlers (Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn, 2006;Sumner et al, 2010;10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1165788 Frontiers in Psychology 03 frontiersin.org Tervahartiala et al, 2021), and is also found in Norwegian childcare centers (Drugli et al, 2018;Nystad et al, 2022).…”

“…In addition, previous studies have found that with passing time, stress levels in childcare are lowered, and children show more positive feelings in interactions with professional caregivers and peers (Datler et al, 2012;Nystad et al, 2021;Ahnert et al, 2022). In a recent study, Nystad et al (2022) found that the development of stress levels throughout the childcare year were associated with professional caregivers' perceptions of the children's well-being during the first month of childcare and the child's temperament, indicating that some individual children may continue to struggle with their adaptation to childcare in the longer Children's well-being seems to be an indicator that needs to be considered seriously during the early period of childcare. Some children may show low well-being (Datler et al, 2012).…”

“…There is little evidence on the association of higher cortisol levels with delayed functioning and development in children attending childcare, and more research is needed (Vermeer and Groeneveld, 2017;Tervahartiala et al, 2021). However, one Norwegian study revealed an association between toddlers' well-being and change in cortisol levels during a year in childcare (Nystad et al, 2022). Toddlers with lower well-being scores at four to 6 weeks after starting in childcare, showed higher morning and afternoon values of cortisol during the year as compared to toddlers with higher well-being scores.…”

The Development of Stress Reactivity and Regulation in Children and Adolescents

“…Cortisol levels in toddlers and, to a lesser extent, preschoolers rise from morning to afternoon and are higher in the afternoon at child care than they are at home at the same time of day [ 40 ]. These elevations are larger in poorer-quality childcare settings [ 41 , 42 ]. While most children return to expected low levels of cortisol when they go home at night [ 43 ], daily elevations at child care predict increased behavioral problems among children who are temperamentally shy and anxious [ 44 ].…”