Psychological Development and Education ›› 2018, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (1): 10-20.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2018.01.02

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The Effects of Paternal-and Maternal-attachment on Children's Cortisol Reactivity to Stress

WANG Xiaolei1, CHEN Lihua1, BU Yu1, LIN Danhua1,2   

  1. 1. Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875;
    2. Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875
  • Online:2018-01-15 Published:2018-01-15

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Abstract: To test the associations between paternal-and maternal-attachment and children's cortisol reactivity to stress, a sample of 115 healthy children (ages 9.25~13.67) was recruited from an elementary school in Beijing, China. The present study performed the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C) protocol, which is the most widely used psychosocial stress protocol in laboratory studies of human subjects. Children were asked to complete a videotaped 5-min public speaking task and a 5-min mental arithmetic task in front of two evaluative and non-responsive audience members. Six salivary samples were collected throughout the session:baseline (-20min), after preparation (-3min), after TSST-C task (+1min), first recovery (+10min), second recovery (+25min) and third recovery (+50min). Parental-attachment was assessed via self-report by using the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA). Results showed that:(1) In comparison with children who reported secure paternal-attachment, children who reported insecure paternal-attachment displayed blunted cortisol responses to stress, as indexed by the lower cortisol levels across time and smaller area under the curve with respect to increase (AUCI). (2) Maternal-attachment was not associated with cortisol levels across time or AUCI. (3) Regression analyses indicated that after controlling for age, gender, BMI, subject social status, pubertal status, and monthly income, higher levels of paternal-attachment predicted larger AUCI. These findings suggested that secure paternal-attachment was associated with children's higher cortisol responses to stress.

Key words: paternal-attachment, maternal-attachment, stress, cortisol, children

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