Familiar and novel contexts yield different associations between cortisol and behavior among 2-year-old children

Cortisol and vagal tone responses to competitive challenge in preschoolers: associations with temperament

Sixty-one 3- to 5-year-old nursery school children participated in a study of tempera ment and stress responses to competition. Each child individually participated in a competition against a familiar adult experimenter to determine who would win enough games to receive a prize. After initially winning three games (Win Period), the children lost the next three games (Lose Period), before winning the final games and receiving the prize. Salivary cortisol, vagal tone, affect and turn-taking behavior were measured in response to the competition and examined in relation to child temperament using a teacher-report version of the Child Behavior Questionnaire. Behavioral measures indicated that the procedures were emotionally engaging and the threat of losing was aversive. Surgency (extroversion) was positively correlated with positive affect during Win periods and tense/angry affect during the Lose period of the competition. Vagal tone decreased as the children began to play against the adult and children who were more tense/angry while losing showed additional suppression of vagal tone when they began to lose the competition. Most of the children did not show a cortisol response to the competition; however, the 15% who increased cortisol (responses >1 SD of classroom baselines) were described by teachers as more surgent and lower in effortful control. All but one of these children who increased in cortisol was male. Cortisol responsive children also displayed higher levels of tense/angry affect during the Lose period. Surgent, extroverted children appear to be vulnerable to competition stress.

Quality of care and temperament determine changes in cortisol concentrations over the day for young children in childcare

The current study investigated whether patterns of cortisol production in preschool-aged children in group care were influenced by characteristics such as group size, adult:child ratio, separation from family/parents, and quality of attention and stimulation from the childcare provider. Data were obtained from preschoolers attending home-based childcare. Cortisol levels were sampled at home and at childcare. Parents and teachers assessed the child's temperament (CBQ, TBQ). At childcare, the children were observed using the Observational Ratings of the Caregiving Environment (ORCE). Childcare characteristics were independent of family or child characteristics. In home-based childcare, children's cortisol patterns over the day correlated significantly with the amount of attention and stimulation provided by the childcare provider. Using a median split on the quality index measure of focused attention/stimulation, children in settings that were above the median exhibited no change in cortisol from home to childcare, while those in settings below the median exhibited a reversal of the typical pattern of cortisol production from morning to afternoon. At home these children exhibited the expected decrease in cortisol from morning to afternoon. Patterns of cortisol production at childcare were also correlated with child temperament with larger increases from morning to afternoon for more emotionally negative children and those with less self-control. Finally, cortisol production in home-based childcare was compared to data from children in center-based childcare and children not enrolled in full-day childcare.

Individual differences in stress reactions during a peer entry episode: effects of age, temperament, approach behavior, and self-perceived peer competence

The purpose of the current study was to determine whether a standardized peer entry paradigm would produce stress responses in 3- and 4-year-olds and how such stress responses would relate to temperament, observed approach to peers, and self-perceived peer competence. Physiological stress reactions were measured by activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system. The 4-year-old group showed significantly less avoidance of the new peers and was rated higher on approach temperament. This older group also showed larger HPA stress responses to the new peer situation. Finally, discrepancy between self-reported peer competence and behavior in the peer entry situation was associated with larger stress responses on average. These findings support the notion that investment in a salient episode plays a role in determining the magnitude of HPA stress responses. The importance of examining discrepancies between self-perception and action in research on stress is discussed.

The start of a new school year: individual differences in salivary cortisol response in relation to child temperament

Noon and evening salivary cortisol levels were examined in 70 elementary school children during the 1st week of a new school year. Samples were obtained on the 1st and 5th days of school and on weekend days. Delta cortisol scores were created to measure the change in children's levels on initial school days relative to weekend days. Temperament was assessed using Rothbart's Child Behavior Questionnaire, a parent report instrument. The three dimensions of surgency or extroversion, negative affectivity, and effortful control were examined. Positive correlations were obtained with Day 1 delta cortisol for negative affectivity and Day 5 delta cortisol for surgency. Contrary to the expectation that internalizing aspects of temperament (shyness, fearfulness) would be associated with larger increases in cortisol to the novelty and challenge of a new school year, these data indicate that larger increases in cortisol were observed in more extroverted children.