Caregivers' laboratory cortisol response: links to trauma exposure and adolescent attachment
| Author(s) | Bounoua, Nadia | |
| Date Accessioned | 2020-04-13T13:24:29Z | |
| Date Available | 2020-04-13T13:24:29Z | |
| Publication Date | 2019 | |
| SWORD Update | 2020-02-06T17:01:19Z | |
| Abstract | Prior studies have pointed to an association between a history of trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms, and cortisol response to lab-based stressors. Further, research has shown that the offspring of caregivers with a trauma history are also at risk for a host of psychosocial problems. In the current study, caregivers’ cortisol was measured at five time points during afternoon laboratory visits with a 15-year old adolescent child. We examined cortisol in two ways: first, using area-under-the-curve (AUC) analyses to assess for global cortisol response during the laboratory visit, and second, using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to test for cortisol response to a trauma interview. Regression and HLM analyses examined the extent to which caregivers’ cortisol response was associated with their own trauma history, perceived nurturance and adolescents’ Dismissing and Preoccupied attachment states of mind. Caregivers’ trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms were not significantly associated with their cortisol responses over the course of the lab visit. However, AUC analysis indicated that both caregiver nurturance and adolescents’ Dismissing states of mind were associated with caregivers’ cortisol response. HLM analyses further revealed that higher caregiver nurturance was associated with reduced reactivity to the trauma interview and that caregivers who were accompanied to the lab by more Dismissing adolescents had higher levels of cortisol during the trauma interview, greater cortisol reactivity to the interview, and slower decline in overall cortisol response throughout the laboratory visit. These findings are discussed in terms of potential directions of effects between caregivers’ cortisol response and adolescents’ Dismissing states of mind. | en_US |
| Advisor | Kobak, R. Rogers | |
| Degree | M.A. | |
| Department | University of Delaware, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences | |
| Unique Identifier | 1150257357 | |
| URL | http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/25643 | |
| Language | en | |
| Publisher | University of Delaware | en_US |
| URI | https://search.proquest.com/docview/2378066268?accountid=10457 | |
| Title | Caregivers' laboratory cortisol response: links to trauma exposure and adolescent attachment | en_US |
| Type | Thesis | en_US |