3-130 - The Power of Parents: Caregiver Buffering of the HPA-axis Among Children and Families Experiencing Low-Income

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Theoretical perspectives and empirical data point to the central role of primary caregivers in helping children learn to regulate stress, physiologically and behaviorally. Often referred to as buffering, this concept has been extended as an explanation for how supportive parenting may protect children in adverse circumstances. Though frequently used to motivate interventions for vulnerable families, surprisingly little data have been published to date examining whether and how parents buffer stress physiology within families facing adversity. Here we report data from three projects that support the theorized power of parents to serve as buffers of HPA-axis activation among families facing low-income. Paper 1 documents parental buffering of salivary cortisol reactivity to well-baby visits with inoculations (n=177). Interestingly, buffering was especially noted in lower income families. Paper 2 reports data from Early Head Start (EHS) families (n=134), positive parenting predicted more adaptive diurnal and stress reactive cortisol patterning. Moderations were observed such that HPA-axis functioning in children with difficult temperaments as well as those whose caregivers had experienced more adversity were buffered by more supportive parenting. Paper 3 reports data from hair cortisol concentration (HCC) to capture long-term, cumulative HPA-axis functioning. In this preschool population (n=86), parental sensitivity predicted lower cumulative HCC. Together these data extend prior work on the critical role of positive parent-child relationships in establishing and maintaining adaptive HPA-axis functioning. In particular, greater buffering was observed for positive parenting in the context of other individual or family level risks. Discussion will include implications for current interventions and future studies.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Sarah Enos Watamura, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER

Discussant

• Philip Fisher, University of Oregon

Individual Presentations

• Attachment Security Buffers the HPA-axis Functioning of Toddlers Living in or Near Poverty - Presenting Author: Anna B. Johnson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Non-Presenting Author: Shanna B. Mliner, University of Minnesota; Non-Presenting Author: Carrie E DePasquale, Institute of Child Development; Non-Presenting Author: Michael Troy, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota; Non-Presenting Author: Megan Gunnar, University of Minnesota

• Positive Parenting Differentiates Young Children’s Physiological Functioning - Presenting Author: Lisa J. Schlueter, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Sabin Research Institute; Non-Presenting Author: Samantha Brown, Colorado State University; Non-Presenting Author: Eliana Hurwich-Reiss, University of California San Diego; Non-Presenting Author: Elly Miles, University of Denver; Non-Presenting Author: Tiffany Koppels, University of Denver; Non-Presenting Author: Julia Dmitrieva, University of Denver; Non-Presenting Author: Sarah Enos Watamura, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER

• Sensitive and Biologically Regulated Parents Buffer Emotionally Dysregulated Preschoolers from Elevated Levels of Hair Cortisol - Presenting Author: Katie Kao, Harvard Medical School, Brazelton Touchpoints Center; Non-Presenting Author: Charu Tara Tuladhar, Boston University; Non-Presenting Author: Jerrold S. Meyer, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Non-Presenting Author: Amanda Tarullo, Boston University