Verhees Martine W F T, van IJzendoorn Marinus H, Alyousefi-van Dijk Kim, Lotz Anna M, de Waal Noor, Bakermans-Kranenburg Marian J
Clinical Child & Family Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol. 2021 Aug 28;8:100083. doi: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100083. eCollection 2021 Nov.
Parents' ability to appropriately respond to infant crying is essential for parental care and has been found to relate to parents' own childhood experiences. Additionally, childhood experiences can affect endocrine factors, which may subsequently affect behavior. In the current study, preregistered on https://osf.io/hwgtu, we examined in expectant and new fathers ( = 152) associations between experiences of maltreatment in their own childhood, hair cortisol and testosterone concentrations and their ability to modulate handgrip force when exposed to infant crying. Cortisol and testosterone were quantified from the 1 cm of hair most proximal to the scalp using Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Participants were asked to squeeze a handgrip dynamometer at full and half strength while listening to infant cries and control sounds. Results indicated that fathers who experienced more childhood maltreatment used more excessive handgrip force during infant cry sounds. Hair cortisol and testosterone were not related to either experienced childhood maltreatment or handgrip strength modulation. These findings confirm that fathers' early experiences of maltreatment reduce their ability to modulate their behavioral responses during infant cries, but suggest that hair cortisol and testosterone concentrations do not identify the underlying mechanism of this association.
父母对婴儿啼哭做出恰当反应的能力对育儿至关重要，并且已发现这与父母自身的童年经历有关。此外，童年经历会影响内分泌因素，进而可能影响行为。在本研究中（该研究已在https://osf.io/hwgtu上预先注册），我们对152名准父亲和新父亲进行了研究，探讨他们童年时期的虐待经历、头发皮质醇和睾酮浓度与他们在听到婴儿啼哭时调节握力的能力之间的关联。使用液相色谱 - 串联质谱法从距头皮最近的1厘米头发中定量分析皮质醇和睾酮。参与者被要求在听婴儿哭声和对照声音时，以全力和半力挤压握力计。结果表明，童年遭受更多虐待的父亲在听到婴儿哭声时使用的握力过大。头发皮质醇和睾酮与童年虐待经历或握力调节均无关联。这些发现证实，父亲早年的虐待经历会降低他们在婴儿啼哭时调节行为反应的能力，但表明头发皮质醇和睾酮浓度并不能确定这种关联的潜在机制。
