de Veld Danielle M J, Riksen-Walraven J Marianne, de Weerth Carolina
Department of Developmental Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen , Nijmegen , The Netherlands.
Stress. 2014 Sep;17(5):383-8. doi: 10.3109/10253890.2014.936004. Epub 2014 Aug 11.
Knowledge about children's stress reactivity and its correlates is mostly based on one stress task, making it hard to assess the generalizability of the results. The development of an additional stress paradigm for children, that also limits stress exposure and test time, could greatly advance this field of research. Research in adults may provide a starting point for the development of such an additional stress paradigm, as changes in salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase (sAA) over a 1-h pre-stress period in the laboratory correlated strongly with subsequent reactivity to stress task (Balodis et al., 2010, Psychoneuroendocrinology 35:1363-73). The present study examined whether such strong correlations could be replicated in 9- to 11-year-old children. Cortisol and sAA samples were collected from 158 children (83 girls) during a 2.5-h visit to the laboratory. This visit included a 1-h pre-stress period in which children performed some non-stressful tasks and relaxed before taking part in a psychosocial stress task (TSST-C). A higher cortisol arrival index was significantly and weakly correlated with a higher AUCg but unrelated to cortisol reactivity to the stressor. A higher sAA arrival index was significantly and moderately related to lower stress reactivity and to a lower AUCi. Children's personality and emotion regulation variables were unrelated to the cortisol and sAA arrival indices. The results of this study do not provide a basis for the development of an additional stress paradigm for children. Further replications in children and adults are needed to clarify the potential meaning of an arrival index.
关于儿童应激反应及其相关因素的知识大多基于一项应激任务，这使得难以评估结果的普遍性。开发一种适用于儿童的额外应激范式，同时限制应激暴露和测试时间，可能会极大地推动这一研究领域的发展。对成年人的研究可能为开发这种额外的应激范式提供一个起点，因为在实验室中，应激前1小时内唾液皮质醇和α-淀粉酶（sAA）的变化与随后对应激任务的反应密切相关（Balodis等人，2010年，《心理神经内分泌学》35:1363 - 73）。本研究调查了这种强相关性是否能在9至11岁的儿童中得到重复验证。在158名儿童（83名女孩）到实验室进行2.5小时的访问期间，采集了皮质醇和sAA样本。这次访问包括一个1小时的应激前期，在此期间儿童进行一些无应激任务并放松，然后参与一项心理社会应激任务（TSST - C）。较高的皮质醇到达指数与较高的AUCg显著但微弱相关，且与对应激源的皮质醇反应性无关。较高的sAA到达指数与较低的应激反应性和较低的AUCi显著且中度相关。儿童的个性和情绪调节变量与皮质醇和sAA到达指数无关。本研究结果并未为开发适用于儿童的额外应激范式提供依据。需要在儿童和成年人中进一步重复验证，以阐明到达指数的潜在意义。
