Examining The Effects Of An Attachment-Based Intervention On Diurnal Cortisol Production Among Toddlers In Foster Care
Date
2016-05
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Children in the foster care system are at risk for biological dysregulation due to
their various experiences of early adversity, such as the separation from their
biological parents and unstable placements. These experiences may lead to disruptions
in functioning of the hypothalamus-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, including the diurnal
production of cortisol. This study presents findings from a randomized clinical trial
that assessed the effectiveness of an attachment-based intervention (Attachment and
Biobehavioral Catch-up for Toddlers; ABC-T) with regard to HPA functioning.
Contrary to expectations, children in the ABC-T intervention and the control group did
not significantly differ in their cortisol production across the day. Instead, both groups
of children showed the expected decline in cortisol levels across the day. Possible
explanations for the differences between these findings and the results of previous
studies may be due to the population of toddlers in the foster care utilized in this study.
Previous studies examining the regulatory effects of an attachment-based intervention
used populations of Child Protected Services (CPS) referred children and implemented
the intervention at infancy rather than toddlerhood. Future research will lead to greater
insight on how to most effectively intervene in order to enhance self-regulatory
capabilities among children in foster care.
Description
Keywords
neuroscience, foster care, toddlers, young children