1 Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, IN, USA.
2 Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
Child Maltreat. 2017 Nov;22(4):286-294. doi: 10.1177/1077559517725208. Epub 2017 Aug 18.
There has been increasing interest in evaluating whether interventions for child maltreatment can improve and/or prevent child physiological dysregulation via measurement of diurnal cortisol. The assessment of diurnal cortisol typically involves the home-based collection of saliva multiple times per day, bringing forth important methodological considerations regarding adherence to collection instructions. To date, there has been no data regarding adherence to home collection of diurnal cortisol among maltreating families. The current study provides data on adherence to in-home sampling of salivary cortisol among 166 maltreating and demographically similar nonmaltreating mother-child dyads using electronic monitoring devices (Medication Event Monitoring System caps). Mothers collected saliva samples on themselves and their children 3 times per day (waking, midday, and evening) for 2 consecutive days. Analyses reveal that although maltreating families were more likely to be nonadherent to the collection protocol on their initial attempt, with additional support and resampling, maltreating and nonmaltreating families were comparable on most measures of adherence. Suggestions for best practices, including the use of electronic monitoring devices, for diurnal cortisol collection with maltreating families are provided.
人们越来越关注评估干预儿童虐待是否可以通过测量日间皮质醇来改善和/或预防儿童生理失调。日间皮质醇的评估通常涉及在家中每天多次采集唾液，这就提出了关于如何遵守采集说明的重要方法学考虑因素。迄今为止，尚无关于虐待家庭遵守在家中采集日间皮质醇的相关数据。本研究使用电子监测设备（药物事件监测系统帽），提供了 166 个虐待和人口统计学相似的非虐待母婴对子中，在家中采集唾液皮质醇样本的依从性数据。母亲们在连续两天内每天（早上、中午和晚上）三次采集自己和孩子的唾液样本。分析表明，尽管虐待家庭在初次尝试时更有可能不遵守采集方案，但在获得额外的支持和重新采样后，虐待和非虐待家庭在大多数依从性测量上都相当。为与虐待家庭一起进行日间皮质醇采集提供了最佳实践建议，包括使用电子监测设备。
