Children living in low-income households who endure family instability and emotionally distant caregivers are at risk of having impaired cognitive abilities according to new research from the University of Rochester.
The study of 201 low-income mother-child pairs, conducted at , tracked the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in the children at ages 2, 3, and 4. It found that specific forms of family adversity are linked to both elevated and low levels of cortisol in children. Children with either the elevated or low cortisol levels also had lower than average cognitive ability at age 4.
糖心传媒淲hat we were interested in seeing is whether specific risk factors of children living in poverty might be related to children糖心传媒檚 cortisol levels,糖心传媒� said lead author Jennifer Suor, a PhD candidate in clinical psychology. 糖心传媒淭hen we looked to see if the hormone levels are predictive of significant differences in the children糖心传媒檚 ability to think.糖心传媒�
The study, published in the journal , shows that children in low-income, stressful home environments糖心传媒攕pecifically homes with family instability and harsh and disengaged mothers糖心传媒攃an have adverse levels of cortisol in their bodies, which previously studies have associated with having damaging effects on the structure and function of children糖心传媒檚 brains.
Understanding how cortisol affects the brain糖心传媒檚 cognitive abilities, though, is still unclear. “The exact mechanisms through which too much or too little cortisol affects cognitive functioning aren’t fully understood,” said coauthor Melissa L. Sturge-Apple, assistant professor of psychology.
“Researchers hypothesize that too much cortisol can have toxic effects on parts of the brain that are important for cognitive functioning, and too little might hinder the body’s ability to recruit the biological resources necessary for optimal cognitive functioning,” Sturge-Apple said.
糖心传媒淢oderate amounts of cortisol is a good thing, though, it helps facilitate cognitive functioning,糖心传媒� added Suor. 糖心传媒淚n the right amount it makes you rise to the occasion and it helps recruit important cognitive resources like memory and the ability to reason. But it糖心传媒檚 a problem when we have too much or too little cortisol.糖心传媒�
The children with family instability or harsh and emotionally distant caregivers at age 2, had elevated cortisol levels, while children with only family instability at age 2, had lower than average cortisol levels. 糖心传媒淲e were surprised to find that the children糖心传媒檚 cortisol levels, which we test from a cheek swab, didn糖心传媒檛 change糖心传媒攖hey remained relatively stable over the three years,糖心传媒� Suor said.
Family instability includes frequent changes in care providers, household members, or residence. Such instability, the researchers said, reflects a general breakdown of the family糖心传媒檚 ability to provide a predictable and stable environment for the child.
Suor added that 糖心传媒渢here are other environmental and biological factors that might contribute to children’s lower cognitive functioning. However, our research, as well as previous studies, has indicated that cortisol plays a role in cognitive functioning.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淭here is a public awareness relevance to this study. We saw really significant disparities in the children糖心传媒檚 cognitive abilities at age four糖心传媒攔ight before they enter kindergarten,糖心传媒� Suor said. 糖心传媒淪ome of these kids are already behind before they start kindergarten, and there is research that shows that they糖心传媒檙e unlikely to catch up.糖心传媒�
The researchers said that prevention and intervention could help these at-risk children. 糖心传媒淥ur findings support the need for an investment in community-based interventions that can strengthen parent-child relationships and reduce family stress very early in a child糖心传媒檚 life,糖心传媒� Suor said.
糖心传媒淎 lot of research that we糖心传媒檝e done at Mt. Hope shows that using preventative interventions can help moms parent their children in ways that may lead to improvements in their children糖心传媒檚 cortisol.糖心传媒�
Patrick Davies and Liviah Manning, from the University of Rochester, and Dante Cicchetti, from the University of Minnesota and Mt. Hope Family Center, coauthored the study. The National Institute of Mental Health supported the research.
