Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
Department of Communication and Culture, Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway.
Stress. 2022 Jan;25(1):156-165. doi: 10.1080/10253890.2022.2048371.
Elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol have been found in toddlers in childcare. Measuring cortisol may provide an indication of children's experiences in childcare and help to adjust practices better to their needs. To the best of our knowledge, toddlers' cortisol levels in childcare have not yet been investigated longitudinally. Furthermore, it is unclear which child and childcare factors contribute to cortisol elevation in toddlers. Using linear mixed model analyses, we investigated the full-day cortisol activity (10.00 h, 15.00 h, 18.00 h) of 156 toddlers (81 female, 56 male) during a year in childcare (September, January, June). We also investigated child cortisol levels at home in January. In addition, we tested the relation between cortisol activity and changes in cortisol activity across the year and childcare quality, temperament, well-being in childcare, and maternal education. We found increasing evening cortisol levels through the year while controlling for age. Afternoon cortisol levels were stable, but above morning cortisol levels in September and January and only slightly below morning cortisol levels in June. At home in January, afternoon levels were significantly below morning levels. Higher well-being in childcare was associated with lower overall cortisol levels and less increase in evening cortisol levels through the year in childcare. Further, less active toddlers seemed to accumulate some stress during the childcare day, indicated by higher evening cortisol levels. Rising evening cortisol levels may indicate accumulating stress across the year. Results point toward childcare being demanding for toddlers and their need for consideration from caregivers and parents, also after a longer period of childcare attendance. The findings underline the importance of observing, promoting, and further researching children's well-being in childcare.
研究发现，在日托中心的幼儿中，应激激素皮质醇的水平升高。测量皮质醇水平可以反映儿童在日托中心的经历，并有助于根据其需求更好地调整实践。据我们所知，目前还没有对幼儿在日托中心的皮质醇水平进行纵向研究。此外，尚不清楚哪些儿童和日托因素会导致幼儿皮质醇升高。我们使用线性混合模型分析，调查了 156 名幼儿（81 名女性，56 名男性）在日托中心（9 月、1 月、6 月）一年中的全天皮质醇活动（10.00 h、15.00 h、18.00 h）。我们还在 1 月调查了儿童在家中的皮质醇水平。此外，我们还测试了皮质醇活动与全年皮质醇活动变化之间的关系，以及日托质量、气质、在日托中的幸福感以及母亲教育之间的关系。我们发现，在控制年龄的情况下，皮质醇水平随着时间的推移而逐渐升高。下午的皮质醇水平保持稳定，但高于 9 月和 1 月的早晨水平，仅略低于 6 月的早晨水平。在 1 月的家中，下午的水平明显低于早晨的水平。日托中的较高幸福感与全年皮质醇水平较低和傍晚皮质醇水平升高幅度较小有关。此外，活动较少的幼儿在日托期间似乎积累了一些压力，表现为傍晚皮质醇水平较高。傍晚皮质醇水平升高可能表明全年压力不断积累。研究结果表明，日托对幼儿来说要求较高，他们需要看护者和家长的关注，即使在较长时间的日托后也是如此。这些发现强调了观察、促进和进一步研究儿童在日托中的幸福感的重要性。
