Prenatal Cocaine Exposure and Infant Cortisol Reactivity

• Autores: Rina D. Eiden, Yvette Veira, Douglas Granger
• Localización: Child development, ISSN 0009-3920, Vol. 80, Nº. 2, 2009, págs. 528-543
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This study examined the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on infant hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity and reactivity at 7 months of infant age. Participants were 168 caregiver–infant dyads (87 cocaine exposed, 81 not cocaine exposed; 47% boys). Maternal behavior, caregiving instability, and infant growth and behavior were assessed, and children’s saliva was sampled before, during, and after standardized procedures designed to elicit emotional arousal. Results revealed cocaine-exposed infants had a high amplitude trajectory of cortisol reactivity compared to non-cocaine-exposed infants. Infant gender and caregiving instability moderated this association. The findings support a dual hazard vulnerability model and have implications for evolutionary-developmental theories of individual differences in biological sensitivity to context.