Smeekens Sanny, Marianne Riksen-Walraven J, van Bakel Hedwig J A
Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2007 Jul;48(7):649-56. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01753.x.
This study with five-year-olds is the first to examine whether low-quality interactions with parents elicit physiological stress in children beyond toddlerhood, as evident from elevated cortisol levels in their saliva. It was hypothesised that particularly children with low levels of ego-resiliency -a personality construct reflecting the capacity to cope with stress - would show cortisol increases during low-quality parent-child interactions.
In a sample of 101 five-year-old children (62 boys), parent-child interaction was observed at home during parent-child discourse that involved the recollection and discussion of emotional events that happened to the child in the past. Saliva samples to assess cortisol levels were collected before and 20 minutes after the parent-child discourse task. The children's teacher rated child ego-resiliency using a Dutch translation of the California Child Q-set (CCQ; Block & Block, 1980).
One of the two parent-child interaction factors that emerged from a principal component analysis, namely negative parent-child interactions, was significantly related to the children's cortisol reaction; more negative parent-child interactions elicited significantly stronger cortisol reactions. The other parent-child interaction factor that was found, i.e., effective guidance, was not significantly related to children's cortisol reaction. As predicted, children low on ego-resiliency showed increases in cortisol during negative interactions with their parents, whereas high ego-resilient children did not.
The association between negative parent-child interactions and cortisol elevations in children may point to a likely mechanism through which negative parent-child interactions contribute to negative developmental outcomes as the repeated exposure to high levels of cortisol have earlier been found to negatively affect children's development and functioning in various areas.
这项针对五岁儿童的研究首次探讨了与父母的低质量互动是否会在幼儿期之后引发儿童的生理应激反应，这可从他们唾液中皮质醇水平的升高看出。研究假设，特别是那些自我恢复力水平较低的儿童——一种反映应对压力能力的人格特质——在与父母的低质量互动中会出现皮质醇水平升高。
在101名五岁儿童（62名男孩）的样本中，在家中观察亲子互动，互动内容是回忆和讨论孩子过去发生的情感事件。在亲子对话任务前后分别采集唾液样本以评估皮质醇水平。孩子们的老师使用加利福尼亚儿童Q分类表（CCQ；Block & Block，1980）的荷兰语译本对儿童的自我恢复力进行评分。
主成分分析得出的两个亲子互动因素之一，即消极的亲子互动，与儿童的皮质醇反应显著相关；消极的亲子互动越多，引发的皮质醇反应就越强。另一个发现的亲子互动因素，即有效的指导，与儿童的皮质醇反应没有显著关系。正如预测的那样，自我恢复力低的儿童在与父母的消极互动中皮质醇水平升高，而自我恢复力高的儿童则没有。
消极的亲子互动与儿童皮质醇水平升高之间的关联可能指向一种潜在机制，通过这种机制，消极的亲子互动会导致负面的发展结果，因为先前已发现反复暴露于高水平的皮质醇会对儿童在各个领域的发展和功能产生负面影响。
