Adrenocortical Responses to the Strange Situation in Infants with Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment Relationships

Salivary cortisol levels were assessed in 19-month-old infants following the Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure. 38 infants participating in Project STEEP at the University of Minnesota served as subjects. Project STEEP is a longitudinal intervention program designed to promote healthy parent-chi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 1995-08, Vol.66 (4), p.1100-1106
Main Authors: Hertsgaard, Louise, Gunnar, Megan, Erickson, Martha Farrell, Nachmias, Melissa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment (to Environment)
Adrenocortical Response
Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure
Anxiety, Separation
Attachment
Attachment Behavior
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Child development
Children
Emotional Response
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hormones
Hormones and behavior
Humans
Hydrocortisone - analysis
Hydrocortisone - secretion
Infant
Infant Behavior
Infants
Life Change Events
Mother-Child Relations
Nervous System
Neurosecretory systems
Object Attachment
Parenting
Parents & parenting
Personal relationships
Physiological aspects
Psychology, Child
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Research grants
Saliva
Saliva - chemistry
Security (Psychology)
Separation Anxiety
Stress
Stress Response
Stress Variables
T tests
Toddlers
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Summary:Salivary cortisol levels were assessed in 19-month-old infants following the Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure. 38 infants participating in Project STEEP at the University of Minnesota served as subjects. Project STEEP is a longitudinal intervention program designed to promote healthy parent-child relationships and to prevent emotional problems among children born to mothers who are at high risk for parenting problems. Following the Strange Situation, saliva samples were collected and assayed for cortisol, a steroid hormone frequently examined in studies of stress. Behavior during the Strange Situation was coded by trained coders, and attachment classifications were determined for each infant. Cortisol concentrations did not differ between the 6 Avoidant/Resistant (A/C) and 17 Securely Attached (B) toddlers. Toddlers (n = 11) who were classified as having Disorganized/Disoriented (Type D) attachments exhibited higher cortisol concentrations than toddlers in the traditional (ABC) classifications. Results of this study were consistent with a model of stress reactivity that conceptualizes the organization of coping behaviors as a factor that mediates physiological stress responses.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.2307/1131801