The effect of a maternal history of childhood abuse on adrenocortical attunement in mothers and their toddlers
We investigated circadian mother-child adrenocortical attunement in the context of a maternal history of childhood abuse (HoA). Mothers were screened after birth using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Women reporting moderate or severe abuse formed the HoA group (n = 37; HoAG) and were compared w...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
02 June 2017
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| In: |
Developmental psychobiology
Year: 2017, Volume: 59, Issue: 5, Pages: 639-652 |
| ISSN: | 1098-2302 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/dev.21531 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dev.21531 Verlag, Volltext: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/dev.21531 
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| Author Notes: | Anna Fuchs, Eva Moehler, Franz Resch, Michael Kaess |
| Summary: | We investigated circadian mother-child adrenocortical attunement in the context of a maternal history of childhood abuse (HoA). Mothers were screened after birth using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Women reporting moderate or severe abuse formed the HoA group (n = 37; HoAG) and were compared with a non-maltreated comparison group (n = 45; CG). Three years later, cortisol awakening response (CAR) and diurnal slope (DSL) were assessed. Mother-child interaction was coded using the Emotional Availability Scales at 12 months of age. For the CAR, we found adrenocortical attunement only in the HoAG (2-way interaction: p = .004), particularly if mothers scored low on structuring (3-way interaction: p = .042) and children scored low on responsiveness (3-way interaction: p = .044). DSL-attunement was dependent on maternal sensitivity (3-way interaction: p = .012) and child involvement (3-way interaction: p = .012). In the context of a maternal HoA, it seems possible for mother-child-dyads to show less optimal interactional quality but be stronger attuned to each other biologically. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 28.05.2018 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1098-2302 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/dev.21531 |