TY - JOUR
T1 - Mild perinatal adversities moderate the association between maternal harsh parenting and hair cortisol
T2 - Evidence for differential susceptibility
AU - Windhorst, Dafna A.
AU - Rippe, Ralph C.A.
AU - Mileva-Seitz, Viara R.
AU - Verhulst, Frank C.
AU - Jaddoe, Vincent W.V.
AU - Noppe, Gerard
AU - van Rossum, Elisabeth F.C.
AU - van den Akker, Erica L.T.
AU - Tiemeier, Henning
AU - van IJzendoorn, Marinus H.
AU - Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J.
PY - 2017/4/1
Y1 - 2017/4/1
N2 - It has been shown that following exposure to mild perinatal adversity, children have greater susceptibility to both the negative and positive aspects of their subsequent environment. In a large population-based cohort study (N = 1,776), we investigated whether mild perinatal adversity moderated the association between maternal harsh parenting and children's hair cortisol levels, a biomarker of chronic stress. Mild perinatal adversity was defined as late preterm birth (gestational age at birth of 34–37 weeks, 6 days) or small for gestational age (birth weight between the 2.5th and 10th percentile for full term gestational age). Harsh parenting was assessed by maternal self-report at 3 years. Children's hair cortisol concentrations were measured from hair samples collected at age 6. There were no significant bivariate associations between mild perinatal adversities and harsh parenting and hair cortisol. However, mild perinatal adversities moderated the association between maternal harsh parenting and hair cortisol levels. Children with mild perinatal adversity had lower cortisol levels if parented more harshly and higher cortisol levels in the absence of harsh parenting than children who did not experience mild perinatal adversity. These results provide further evidence that mild perinatal adversity is a potential marker of differential susceptibility to environmental influences.
AB - It has been shown that following exposure to mild perinatal adversity, children have greater susceptibility to both the negative and positive aspects of their subsequent environment. In a large population-based cohort study (N = 1,776), we investigated whether mild perinatal adversity moderated the association between maternal harsh parenting and children's hair cortisol levels, a biomarker of chronic stress. Mild perinatal adversity was defined as late preterm birth (gestational age at birth of 34–37 weeks, 6 days) or small for gestational age (birth weight between the 2.5th and 10th percentile for full term gestational age). Harsh parenting was assessed by maternal self-report at 3 years. Children's hair cortisol concentrations were measured from hair samples collected at age 6. There were no significant bivariate associations between mild perinatal adversities and harsh parenting and hair cortisol. However, mild perinatal adversities moderated the association between maternal harsh parenting and hair cortisol levels. Children with mild perinatal adversity had lower cortisol levels if parented more harshly and higher cortisol levels in the absence of harsh parenting than children who did not experience mild perinatal adversity. These results provide further evidence that mild perinatal adversity is a potential marker of differential susceptibility to environmental influences.
KW - differential susceptibility
KW - hair cortisol
KW - HPA axis
KW - mild perinatal adversities
KW - parenting
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U2 - 10.1002/dev.21497
DO - 10.1002/dev.21497
M3 - Article
C2 - 28295227
AN - SCOPUS:85015227449
VL - 59
SP - 324
EP - 337
JO - Developmental Psychobiology
JF - Developmental Psychobiology
SN - 0012-1630
IS - 3
ER -