Temperament, social competence, and adrenocortical activity in preschoolers

Gunnar, Megan R.; Tout, Kathryn; Haan, Michelle de; Pierce, Susan; Stanbury, Kathy

doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199707)31:1<65::aid-dev6>3.0.co;2-s

Cited by 232 publications

(203 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

178

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…As in previous studies (Gunnar et al, 1997;Hart et al, 1995), the values corresponding to the first (Ql), second (QZ), and third (Q3) quartiles were identified in each child's distribution of morning and afternoon cortisol values, and six scores were computed (three from each distribution). The Median (Q2) was computed as a measure of central tendency of cortisol Values that would be relatively unaffected by one or two instances of high cortisol.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is also consistent with evidence that Caribbean children who exhibit internalizing behaviors show elevations in cortisol to school attendance, particularly if they are also struggling academically (Durbrow et al, 1998). In contrast, for children whose internalizing behaviors are well within the normal range, few significant correlations with cortisol activity have been noted (Gunnar, Tout, de Haan, Pierce, & Stansbury, 1997). In fact, in normally developing children, teacher-or parent-reported measures of shyness and solitary play tend to be associated with lower rather than higher levels of HPA activity (Gunnar et al, 1997;Hart, Gunnar, & Cicchetti, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among normally developing preschool children, aggression has tended to be positively, not negatively, associated with cortisol activity. For example, we (Gunnar et al, 1997) found that greater cortisol reactivity was associated with more negative emotional behavior. Higher cortisol levels for angry/aggressive preschool children were also noted by Montagner and his colleagues (Montagner et al, 1978) in an early study of social behavior and urinary cortisol levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Social Behavior Correlates of Cortisol Activity in Child Care: Gender Differences and Time‐of‐Day Effects

Tout

Haan

Campbell³

et al. 1998

Child Development

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The relations between social behavior and daily patterns of a stress-sensitive hormone production were examined in preschool children (N = 75) attending center-based child care. Three behavioral dimensions, shy/ anxious/internalizing, angry /aggressive/externalizing, and social competence, were assessed by teacher report and classroom observation, and their relations with 2 measures of cortisol activity, median (or typical) levels and reactivity (quartile range score between second and third quartile values) were explored. Cortisolbehavior relations differed by gender: significant associations were found for boys but not for girls. Specifically, for boys externalizing behavior was positively associated with cortisol reactivity, while internalizing behavior was negatively associated with median cortisol. Time of day of cortisol measurement affected the results. Surprisingly, median cortisol levels rose from morning to afternoon, a pattern opposite to that of the typical circadian rhythm of cortisol. This rise in cortisol over the day was positively correlated with internalizing behavior for boys. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings for the study of the development of hormone-behavior relations are discussed.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Social Behavior Correlates of Cortisol Activity in Child Care: Gender Differences and Time‐of‐Day Effects

Tout

Haan

Campbell³

et al. 1998

Child Development

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In fact, other personality traits, such as impulsive sensation seeking, aggression, activity or sociability, have also been shown to be associated with an individual's susceptibility to depression (Ball, 1995;Wang et al, 2004). Cortisol studies have further confirmed the biological significance of these traits (Ballenger et al, 1983;Mazur, 1995;Gunnar et al, 1997;Rosenblitt et al, 2001) and there have been a few studies that successfully linked some of these traits -e.g., impulsive sensation seeking -with hippocampal function (Pickering, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality traits in rats predict vulnerability and resilience to developing stress-induced depression-like behaviors, HPA axis hyper-reactivity and brain changes in pERK1/2 activity

Castro

Diessler

Varea

et al. 2012

Psychoneuroendocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary Emerging evidence indicates that certain behavioral traits, such as anxiety, are associated with the development of depression-like behaviors after exposure to chronic stress. However, single traits do not explain the wide variability in vulnerability to stress observed in outbred populations. We hypothesized that a combination of behavioral traits might provide a better characterization of an individual's vulnerability to prolonged stress. Here, we sought to determine whether the characterization of relevant behavioral traits in rats could aid in identifying individuals with different vulnerabilities to developing stress-induced depressionlike behavioral alterations. We also investigated whether behavioral traits would be related to the development of alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and in brain activityas measured through phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) -in response to an acute stressor following either sub-chronic (2 weeks) or chronic (4 weeks) unpredictable stress (CUS). Sprague-Dawley rats were characterized using a battery of behavioral tasks, and three principal traits were identified: anxiety, exploration and activity. When combined, the first two traits were found to explain the variability in the stress responses. Our findings confirm the increased risk of animals with high anxiety developing certain depression-like behaviors (e.g., increased floating time in the forced swim test) when progressively exposed to stress. In contrast, the behavioral profile based on combined low anxiety and low exploration was resistant to alterations related to social behaviors, while the high anxiety and low exploration profile displayed a particularly vulnerable pattern of physiological and neurobiological responses after sub-chronic stress exposure. Our findings indicate important differences in

show abstract

“…Rhesus monkeys with behavioral inhibition have elevated concentrations of CRH in cerebrospinal fluid and increases in plasma cortisol (Kalin and Shelton, 2003). Similarly, social wariness and internalizing behaviors in children are positively associated with basal salivary cortisol concentrations (de Haan et al, 1998;Gunnar et al, 1997;Kagan et al, 1987;Scerbo and Kolko, 1994;Schmidt et al, 1997;Smider et al, 2002), and two studies have found an association between behavioral inhibition and genetic markers at the CRH locus (Smoller et al, 2003(Smoller et al, , 2005.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperament and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis function in healthy adults

Tyrka

Mello

Gagne

et al. 2006

Psychoneuroendocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryBackground-Traits such as behavioral inhibition and neuroticism have been linked to the development of mood and anxiety disorders. Hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a manifestation of the stress response, is often seen in major depression and has also been demonstrated in animals and humans with inhibited temperaments. A recent study found HPA hyperactivity in adults with high levels of neuroticism. The present study investigated associations of temperament and HPA function in 31 healthy adults.Methods and materials-Subjects completed diagnostic interviews, questionnaires, and the dexamethasone-/corticotropin-releasing hormone (Dex/CRH) test. Temperament was assessed using the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ). Results-NoveltySeeking was inversely related to plasma cortisol concentrations in the Dex/CRH test. Harm Avoidance and Reward Dependence were not significantly associated with cortisol responses in the Dex/CRH test. The results were not accounted for by psychiatric symptoms or a history of stress or childhood maltreatment.Conclusions-These findings are consistent with previous reports associating temperament factors with HPA axis hyperactivity. Further work is needed to replicate these observations and determine whether HPA axis dysfunction might account for some of the previously reported association of personality factors with mood and anxiety disorders.

show abstract

Temperament, social competence, and adrenocortical activity in preschoolers

Cited by 232 publications

References 35 publications

Social Behavior Correlates of Cortisol Activity in Child Care: Gender Differences and Time‐of‐Day Effects

Social Behavior Correlates of Cortisol Activity in Child Care: Gender Differences and Time‐of‐Day Effects

Personality traits in rats predict vulnerability and resilience to developing stress-induced depression-like behaviors, HPA axis hyper-reactivity and brain changes in pERK1/2 activity

Temperament and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis function in healthy adults

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About