Parent support is less effective in buffering cortisol stress reactivity for adolescents compared to children

Hostinar, Camelia E.; Johnson, Anna E.; Gunnar, Megan R.

doi:10.1111/desc.12195

Cited by 200 publications

(223 citation statements)

References 135 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

200

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The stressor procedures were identical to those described in Hostinar et al (2015) and will be summarized here. A modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-M; Yim, et al, 2010) was used in which youths are asked to imagine they are introducing themselves to a new classroom of students and they should tell the class some good and bad characteristics about themselves.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If social buffering organized around parents is part of an immature mode of coping with danger and threat, then one would expect it to diminish in potency as the child approaches independence. Recently we examined the effectiveness of the parent as a social buffer of the HPA axis among children aged 9- and 10-years-old and adolescents aged 15- and 16-years-old (Hostinar et al, 2015). Among the children, the presence of the parent during the time the child prepared for the speech in the Trier Social Stress Test completely blocked elevations in cortisol despite the fact that the parent was not present during the speech and math section of the task.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The roles of puberty and age in explaining the diminished effectiveness of parental buffering of HPA reactivity and recovery in adolescence

Doom

Hostinar

VanZomeren-Dohm

et al. 2015

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Parental support is a powerful regulator of stress and fear responses for infants and children, but recent evidence suggests it may be an ineffective stress buffer for adolescents. The mechanisms underlying this developmental shift are not well-understood. The goal of the present study was to examine the independent and joint contributions of pubertal status and chronological age in explaining this shift. A sample of 75 typically-developing youth (M age = 12.95 years, SD = 0.70, range = 11.7–14.6 years; 37 females) was recruited to complete a modified Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-M) in the laboratory. Participants were recruited in such a way as to disentangle pubertal stage and chronological age by phone screening for markers of pubertal stage and then recruiting roughly equal numbers of younger and older, pre/early and mid/late pubertal youth who were then randomly assigned within groups to condition. The TSST-M was used as the stressor and youth prepared either with their parent or stranger (parent condition: N = 39). Pubertal stage was confirmed by the Petersen Pubertal Development Scale at the time of testing and treated, along with chronological age, as a continuous variable in the analyses. The results revealed an interaction of pubertal stage and support condition for cortisol reactivity to the TSST-M such that preparing for the speech with the parent became a less potent buffer of the HPA axis as pubertal stage increased. Age did not interact with condition in predicting cortisol reactivity. In contrast, the parent’s presence during speech preparation decreased in its effectiveness to hasten recovery of the HPA axis as children got older, but pubertal stage was not predictive of recovery rate. These patterns were specific to cortisol and were not observed with salivary alpha-amylase levels or subjective stress ratings for the task. These analyses suggest that the switch away from using parents as social buffers may be the result of neurobiological mechanisms associated with puberty.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The roles of puberty and age in explaining the diminished effectiveness of parental buffering of HPA reactivity and recovery in adolescence

Doom

Hostinar

VanZomeren-Dohm

et al. 2015

Psychoneuroendocrinology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We would draw attention to the need for sufficient laboratory time prior to baseline assessment to obtain a true baseline and the particular relevance of this in child stress testing. Some researchers have obtained a baseline away from the laboratory in the child's naturalistic environment a day or more prior to the laboratory stress test (Hostinar et al, 2015;Lovallo et al, 2010). In future work we would endorse this approach to minimise time required in the laboratory and to obtain a truer baseline uncontaminated by anticipatory stress effects.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Panel manipulation in social stress testing: The Bath Experimental Stress Test for Children (BEST-C)

Cheetham

Turner‐Cobb

2016

Psychoneuroendocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryBackground: Whilst acute stress paradigms in adults make use of adult panel members, similar paradigms modified for child participants have not manipulated the panel.Most work has utilised an audience of adult confederates, regardless of the age of the population being tested. The aim of this study was to trial a social stress test for children that provided a meaningful environment using age-matched child peers as panel actors.Methods: Thirty-three participants (7-11 years) underwent the Bath Experimental Stress Test for Children (BEST-C). Based on the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), it comprises a shortened six-minute public speaking task and four-minute maths challenge. It differs from previous stress tests by using age-matched children on the panel, pre-recorded and presented as a live feed, and includes an expanded manipulation check of subjective experience. Salivary cortisol was assessed at four time points, pre-post stress testing; life events, daily hassles and coping strategies were measured through questionnaires. A simple numerical coding scheme was applied to post-test interview data. Results:The BEST-C generated a typical stress and adaptation response in salivary cortisol (p=.032). Age and gender differences were observed during recovery. Cortisol responses mapped directly onto three distinct subjective response patterns: i) expected response and recovery; ii) expected response, no recovery; iii) no response. Conclusions:The BEST-C, utilising child confederates of participant target age is a meaningful social stress test for children. This is the first social stress test developed specifically for children that manipulates panel characteristics by using child confederates and a pre-recorded sham panel. Greater cortisol responses to the test were also found to match subjective verbal accounts of the experience. It offers a meaningful acute stress paradigm with potential applications to other child and adolescent age groups. Furthermore, it leads the way in the use of panel manipulation in social stress testing.

show abstract

“…Social buffering occurs in humans and occurs across species and across development (Ditzen & Heinrichs, 2014;Ducharme, Stanton, & Ducharme, 1985;Hennessy, 1986;Hennessy, Hornschuh, Kaiser, & Sachser, 2006;Hennessy, Kaiser, & Sachser, 2009;Hennessy et al, 2015;Hostinar et al, 2013;Kikusui, Winslow, & Mori, 2006;McCormack et al, 2006;Raineki et al, 2015;Rosenfeld, Su-checki, & Levine, 1992;Stanton & Levine, 1990;Suchecki, Rosenfeld, & Levine, 1993;Takahashi et al, 2013). Social buffering of the infant by the caregiver wanes as individuals across species mature and become independent (Gee et al, 2014;Hostinar, Johnson, & Gunnar, 2015;McCormack et al, 2006).…”

Section: The Attachment Figure Regulates Infant Brain and Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment Figure's Regulation of Infant Brain and Behavior

Sullivan

2017

Psychodynamic Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Altricial infants (i.e., requiring parental care for survival), such as humans and rats, form an attachment to their caregiver and receive the nurturing and protections needed for survival. Learning has a strong role in attachment, as is illustrated by strong attachment formed to non-biological caregivers of either sex. Here we summarize and integrate results from animal and human infant attachment research that highlights the important role of social buffering (social presence) of the stress response by the attachment figure and its effect on infant processing of threat and fear through modulation of the amygdala.Indeed, this work suggests the caregiver switches off amygdala function in rodents, although recent human research suggests a similar process in humans and nonhuman primates. This cross-species analysis helps provide insight and unique understanding of attachment and its role in the neurobiology of infant behavior within attachment.Keywords: attachment, mother-infant dyad, locus coeruleus, norepinephrine, amygdala, stress, learning, mother, infant People rely on emotional attachment to others for well-being and continue to form these important bonds throughout life. One of the most important bonds is that which is formed between a child and caregiver that channels the infant brain to develop and modify cognitive and emotional functioning. Here we focus on the infant within the infant-caregiver dyad and consider how animal models provide insight into the influence of the attachment figure on infant neurobehavioral function.While Freud highlighted the importance of the child's first social relationship (Freud, 1975(Freud, , 1976, it was not until the 1950s that our current 476 SULLIVAN view of attachment was established by the psychiatrist John Bowlby using attachment theory (Bowlby, 1958(Bowlby, , 1965(Bowlby, , 1969(Bowlby, , 1982. Bowlby's paradigm-shifting theoretical approach was a synthesis of Bowlby's Freudian psychoanalyst training, clinical observations of disturbed children, and emerging animal research on a young chick "imprinting" or bonding to parents. Overall, this perspective described a biological system for an infant's attachment to the caregiver and its importance for mental health, which was phylogenetically preserved and present across altricial species (i.e., those who require parental care for survival). Bowlby's clinical observations involved a group of maladjusted children, noting that their common early life history of being deprived of their mothers or other primary caregivers. This viewpoint was also evident in the work of Rene Spitz and James Robertson, which also showed the detrimental effects of separating the child from the primary caregiver during hospitalization or orphanage placement and the resultant extreme emotional distress. Bowlby's integration of the current animal research was also critically important to his formation of attachment theory. Indeed, Bowlby interacted with animal researchers who were attempting to better understand the infant-caregiver rel...

show abstract

Parent support is less effective in buffering cortisol stress reactivity for adolescents compared to children

Cited by 200 publications

References 135 publications

The roles of puberty and age in explaining the diminished effectiveness of parental buffering of HPA reactivity and recovery in adolescence

The roles of puberty and age in explaining the diminished effectiveness of parental buffering of HPA reactivity and recovery in adolescence

Panel manipulation in social stress testing: The Bath Experimental Stress Test for Children (BEST-C)

Attachment Figure's Regulation of Infant Brain and Behavior

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About