Patterns of stress-related change in salivary alpha-amylase and cortisol among young children: Associations with maternal psychosocial risk factors.

ABSTRACT: Our understanding of associations between family-level risk factors and children's stress physiology is largely derived from studies that apply "mean-based" rather than "person-level" approaches. In this study, we employed group-based trajectory modeling, a person-centered approach, to identify children with similar patterns of stress-related sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation, and explored associations between these patterns and maternal psychosocial risk. Participants were five-year-old children (N=147; 52 % female; 62 % Black/African American) and their mothers. Children's saliva was sampled four times during a series of emotional stressor tasks and later assayed for sAA and cortisol, indexing SNS and HPA activity, respectively. Mot

SUBMITTER: Silke O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12131162 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature