Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T00:50:38.129Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Normalizing the development of cortisol regulation in maltreated infants through preventive interventions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2011

Dante Cicchetti ,
Fred A. Rogosch ,
Sheree L. Toth  and
Melissa L. Sturge-Apple
Dante Cicchetti*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Fred A. Rogosch
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Sheree L. Toth
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Melissa L. Sturge-Apple
Affiliation:
University of Rochester
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Dante Cicchetti, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, 51 E. River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455; E-mail: cicchett@umn.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Longitudinal effects of child maltreatment on cortisol regulation in infants from age 1 to 3 years were investigated in the context of a randomized preventive intervention trial. Thirteen-month-old infants from maltreating families (N = 91) and their mothers were randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: child–parent psychotherapy, psychoeducational parenting intervention, and a control group involving standard community services (CS). A fourth group of infants from nonmaltreating families (N = 52) and their mothers comprised a nonmaltreated comparison (NC) group. The two active interventions were combined into one maltreated intervention (MI) group for statistical analyses. Saliva samples were obtained from children at 10:00 a.m. before beginning a laboratory observation session with their mothers when the children were 13 months of age (preintervention), 19 months (midintervention), 26 months (postintervention), and 38 months (1-year postintervention follow-up). At the initial assessment, no significant differences among groups in morning cortisol were observed. Latent growth curve analyses examined trajectories of cortisol regulation over time. Beginning at midintervention, divergence was found among the groups. Whereas the MI group remained indistinguishable from the NC group across time, the CS group progressively evinced lower levels of morning cortisol, statistically differing from the MI and NC groups. Results highlight the value of psychosocial interventions for early child maltreatment in normalizing biological regulatory processes.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 23 , Issue 3: Allostatic Load: Part 1 , August 2011 , pp. 789 - 800
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arbuckle, J. L. (2006). Amos (Version 7.0) [Computer Program]. Chicago: SPSS.Google Scholar
Azar, S. T. (2002). Parenting and child maltreatment. In Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Social conditions and applied parenting (Vol. 4, 2nd ed., pp. 361–388). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Barnett, D., Manly, J. T., & Cicchetti, D. (1993). Defining child maltreatment: The interface between policy and research. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. L. (Eds.), Child abuse, child development, and social policy (pp. 7–74). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Beach, S. R. H., Brody, G. H., Todorov, A., Gunter, T. & Philibert, R. A. (2009). Methylation at SLC6A4 is linked to family history of child abuse: An examination of the Iowa Adoptee Sample. American Journal of Medical Genetics: Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 153, 710–713.Google Scholar
Black, J., Jones, T. A., Nelson, C. A., & Greenough, W. T. (1998). Neuronal plasticity and the developing brain. In Alessi, N. E., Coyle, J. T., Harrison, S. I., & Eth, S. (Eds.), Handbook of child and adolescent psychiatry (pp. 31–53). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bolger, K. E., Patterson, C. J., & Kupersmidt, J. B. (1998). Peer relationships and self-esteem among children who have been maltreated. Child Development, 69, 1171–1197.Google ScholarPubMed
Brand, S. R., Brennan, P. A., Newport, D. J., Smith, A. K., Weiss, T., & Stowe, Z. N. (2010). The impact of maternal childhood abuse on maternal and infant HPA axis function in the postpartum period. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 35, 686–693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bugental, D. B., Martorell, G. A., & Barraza, V. (2003). The hormonal costs of subtle forms of infant maltreatment. Hormones and Behavior, 43, 237–244.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D. (2002). How a child builds a brain: Insights from normality and psychopathology. In Hartup, W. & Weinberg, R. (Eds.), Minnesota symposia on child psychology: Vol. 32. Child psychology in retrospect and prospect (pp. 23–71). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (2010). Resilience under conditions of extreme stress: A multilevel perspective. World Psychiatry, 9, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Curtis, W. J. (2005). An event-related potential (ERP) study of processing of affective facial expressions in young children who have experienced maltreatment during the first year of life. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 641–677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Curtis, W. J. (2006). The developing brain and neural plasticity: Implications for normality, psychopathology, and resilience. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Developmental neuroscience (Vol. 2, 2nd ed., pp. 1–64). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Gunnar, M. R. (2008). Integrating biological processes into the design and evaluation of preventive interventions. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 737–743.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Lynch, M. (1993). Toward an ecological/transactional model of community violence and child maltreatment: Consequences for children's development. Psychiatry, 56, 96–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Lynch, M. (1995). Failures in the expectable environment and their impact on individual development: The case of child maltreatment. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Risk, disorder, and adaptation (Vol. 2, pp. 32–71). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rizley, R. (1981). Developmental perspectives on the etiology, intergenerational transmission and sequelae of child maltreatment. New Directions for Child Development, 11, 31–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (1997). The role of self-organization in the promotion of resilience in maltreated children. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 799–817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (2001). Diverse patterns of neuroendocrine activity in maltreated children. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 677–694.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (2007). Personality, adrenal steroid hormones, and resilience in maltreated children: A multi-level perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 787–809.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A., Gunnar, M. R., & Toth, S. L. (2010). The differential impacts of early abuse on internalizing problems and diurnal cortisol activity in school-aged children. Child Development, 25, 252–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A., Maughan, A., Toth, S. L., & Bruce, J. (2003). False belief understanding in maltreated children. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 1067–1091.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A., & Toth, S. L. (2006). Fostering secure attachment in infants in maltreating families through preventive interventions. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 623–650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1995). A developmental psychopathology perspective on child abuse and neglect. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 541–565.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (2005). Child maltreatment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 409–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., Toth, S. L., & Manly, J. T. (2003). Maternal Maltreatment Interview. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Tucker, D. (1994). Development and self-regulatory structures of the mind. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 533–549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Valentino, K. (2006). An ecological transactional perspective on child maltreatment: Failure of the average expectable environment and its influence upon child development. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology (Vol. 3, 2nd ed., pp. 129–201). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Cyr, C., Euser, E. M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2010). Attachment and security and disorganization in maltreating and high-risk families: A series of meta-analyses. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 87–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Danese, A., Caspi, A., Williams, B., Ambler, A., Sugden, K., Mika, J., et al. (2011). Biological embedding of stress through inflammation processes in childhood. Molecular Psychiatry, 16, 244–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Danese, A., Moffitt, T. E., Pariante, C. M., Ambler, A., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. (2008). Elevated inflammation levels in depressed adults with a history of childhood maltreatment. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 409–415.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Danese, A., Pariante, C. M., Caspi, A., Taylor, A., & Poulton, R. (2007). Childhood maltreatment predicts adult inflammation in a life-course study. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104, 1319–1324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, P. T., Winter, M. A., & Cicchetti, D. (2006). The implications of emotional security theory for understanding and treating childhood psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 707–736.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeBellis, M. D. (2001). Developmental traumatology: The psychobiological development of maltreated children and its implications for research, treatment, and policy. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 539–564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeBellis, M. D. (2005). The psychobiology of neglect. Child Maltreatment, 10, 150–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dozier, M., Peloso, E., Lewis, E., Laurenceau, J. P., & Levine, S. (2008). Effects of an attachment-based intervention on the cortisol production of infants and toddlers in foster care. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 845–859.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubowitz, H., Pitts, S. C., Litrownik, A. J., Cox, C. E., Runyan, D., & Black, M. M. (2005). Defining child neglect based on child protective services data. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29, 493–511.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Egeland, B., Cicchetti, D., & Taraldson, B. (1976). Child abuse: A family affair. In Seminaire de recherche Nathalie Masse: Les enfants victimes de mauvais traitments (pp. 28–52). Paris: C.I.E.Google Scholar
English, D. J., Upadhyaya, M. P., Litrownik, A. J., Marshall, J. M., Runyan, D. K., Graham, J. C., et al. (2005). Maltreatment's wake: The relationship of maltreatment dimensions to child outcomes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29, 597–619.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., et al. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leding causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14, 245–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, P. A., Gunnar, M. R., Dozier, M., Bruce, J., & Pears, K. C. (2006). Effects of therapeutic interventions for foster children on behavioral problems, caregiver attachment, and stress regulatory neural systems. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1094, 215–225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, P. A., Stoolmiller, M., Gunnar, M. R., & Burraston, B. O. (2007). Effects of a therapeutic intervention for foster preschoolers on daytime cortisol activity. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 32, 892–905.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraiberg, S., Adelson, E., & Shapiro, V. (1975). Ghosts in the nursery: A psychoanalytic approach to impaired infant–mother relationships. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 14, 387–421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Francis, D., Diorio, J., Plotsky, P. M., & Meaney, M. J. (2002). Environmental enrichment reverses the effects of maternal separation on stress reactivity. Journal of Neuroscience, 22, 7840–7843.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunnar, M. R., Fisher, P. A., & The Early Experience, Stress, and Prevention Network. (2006). Bringing basic research on early experience and stress neurobiology to bear on preventive interventions for neglected and maltreated children. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 651–678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunnar, M. R., & Quevedo, K. (2007). The neurobiology of stress and development. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 145–173.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunnar, M. R., & Vazquez, D. (2001). Low cortisol and a flattening of expected daytime rhythm: Potential indices of risk in human development. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 515–538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunnar, M. R., & Vazquez, D. (2006). Stress neurobiology and developmental psychopathology. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 2. Developmental neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 533–577). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Hart, J., Gunnar, M., & Cicchetti, D. (1995). Salivary cortisol in maltreated children: Evidence of relations between neuroendocrine activity and social competence. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 11–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heim, C., Newport, J. D., Mletzko, T., Miller, A. H., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2008). The link between childhood trauma and depression: Insights from HPA axis studies in humans. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 33, 693–710.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herman, J. P., & Cullinan, W. E. (1997). Neurocircuitry of stress: Central control of the hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenocortical axis. Trends in Neurosciences, 20, 78–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huttenlocher, P. (2002). Neural plasticity: The effects of environment on the development of the cerebral cortex. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaffee, S. R., & Maikovich-Fong, A. K. (2011). Effects of chronic maltreatment and maltreatment timing on children's behavior and cognitive abilities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52, 184–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juster, R.-P., Bizik, G., Picard, M., Arsenault-Lapierre, G., Sindi, S., Trepanier, L., et al. (2011). A transdisciplinary perspective of chronic stress in relation to psychopathology throughout life span development. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 725–776.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juster, R.-P., McEwen, B. S., & Lupien, S. J. (2009). Allostatic load biomarkers of chronic stress and impact on health and cognition. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35, 2–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levine, S. (2005). Developmental determinants of sensitivity and resistance to stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 30, 939–946.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lieberman, A. F. (1992). Infant–parent psychotherapy with toddlers. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 559–574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupien, S. J., Ouellet-Morin, I., Hupbach, A., Tu, M. T., Buss, C., Walker, D., et al. (2006). Beyond the stress concept: Allostatic load—A developmental biological and cognitive perspective. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 2. Developmental neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 578–628). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Manly, J. T. (2005). Advances in research definitions of child maltreatment. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29, 425–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masten, A. S., & Cicchetti, D. (2010). Editorial: Developmental cascades. Developmental Cascades. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 491–495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCormack, K. M., Grand, A., LaPrairie, J., Fulks, R., Graff, A., Maestripieri, D., et al. (2003). Behavioral and neuroendocrine outcomes of infant maltreatment in rhesus monkeys: The first four months. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 641, 14.Google Scholar
McCrory, E., DeBrito, S. A., & Viding, E. (2010). Research review: The neurobiology and genetics of maltreatment and adversity. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 1079–1095.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McEwen, B. S., & Stellar, E. (1993). Stress and the individual mechanisms leading to disease. Archives of Internal Medicine, 153, 2093–2101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meaney, M. J. (2010). Epigenetics and parental effects. Child Development, 32, 818–827.Google Scholar
Meaney, M. J., & Szyf, M. (2005). Environmental programming of stress responses through DNA methylation: Life at the interface between a dynamic environment and a fixed genome. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 7, 103–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meredith, W., & Tisak, J. (1990). Latent curve analysis. Psychometrika, 55, 107–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, G. E., Chen, E., Fok, A. K., Walker, H., Lim, A., Nicholls, E. F., et al. (2009). Low early-life social class leaves a biological residue manifested by decreased glucocorticoid and increased proinflammatory signaling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, 14716–14721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olds, D. L., Eckenrode, J., Henderson, C. R. Jr., Kitzman, H., Powers, J., Cole, R. et al. (1997). Long-term effects of home visitation on maternal life course and child abuse and neglect: 15-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 278, 637–643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olds, D. L., Henderson, C. R. Jr., Cole, R., Eckenrode, J., Kitzman, H., Luckey, D., et al. (1998). Long-term effects of nurse home visitation on children's criminal and antisocial behavior: 15-year follow-up of a randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 280, 1238–1244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olds, D. L., & Kitzman, H. (1990). Can home visitation improve the health of women and children at environmental risk? Pediatrics, 86, 108–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pollak, S. D., Cicchetti, D., Klorman, R., & Brumaghim, J. (1997). Cognitive brain event-related potentials and emotion processing in maltreated children. Child Development, 68, 773–787.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rieder, C., & Cicchetti, D. (1989). Organizational perspective on cognitive control functioning and cognitive-affective balance in maltreated children. Developmental Psychology, 25, 382–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogosch, F. A., Cicchetti, D., & Aber, J. L. (1995). The role of child maltreatment in early deviations in cognitive and affective processing abilities and later peer relationship problems. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 591–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogosch, F. A., Cicchetti, D., Shields, A., & Toth, S. L. (1995). Parenting dysfunction in child maltreatment. In Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (Vol. 4, pp. 127–159). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Rogosch, F. A., Oshri, A., & Cicchetti, D. (2010). From child maltreatment to adolescent cannabis abuse and dependence: A developmental cascade model. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 883–897.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sameroff, A. J., & Chandler, M. J. (1975). Reproductive risk and the continuum of caretaking casualty. In Horowitz, F. D. (Ed.), Review of child development research (Vol. 4, pp. 187–244). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sanchez, M. M. (2006). The impact of early adverse care on HPA axis development: Nonhuman primate models. Hormones and Behavior, 50, 623–631.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanchez, M. M., Ladd, C. O., & Plotsky, P. M. (2001). Early adverse experience as a developmental risk factor for later psychopathology: Evidence from rodent and primate models. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 419–450.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanchez, M. M., McCormack, K., Grand, A. P., Fulks, R., Graff, A., & Maestripieri, D. (2010). Effects of sex and early maternal abuse on adrenocorticotropin hormone and cortisol responses to the corticotrophin-releasing hormone challenge during the first 3 years of life in group-living rhesus monkeys. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 45–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shonkoff, J. P., Boyce, W. T., & McEwen, B. S. (2009). Neuroscience, molecular biology, and the childhood roots of health disparities: Building a new framework for health promotion and disease prevention. Journal of the American Medical Association, 301, 2252–2259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, C. A., & Thornberry, T. (1995). The relationship between child maltreatment and adolescent involvement in delinquency. Criminology, 33, 451–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiles, J. (2008). The fundamentals of brain development: Integrating nature and nurture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarullo, A. R., & Gunnar, M. R. (2006). Child maltreatment and the developing HPA axis. Hormones and Behavior, 50, 632–639.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Teisl, M., & Cicchetti, D. (2008). Physical abuse, cognitive and emotional processes, and aggressive/disruptive behavior problems. Social Development, 16, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, R. A., & Nelson, C. A. (2001). Developmental science and the media: Early brain development. American Psychologist, 56, 5–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tollenaar, M. S., Jansen, J., Beijers, R., Riksen-Walraven, J. M., & de Weerth, C. (2010). Cortisol in the first year of life: Normative values and intra-individual variability. Early Human Development, 86, 13–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Toth, S. L., Cicchetti, D., Macfie, J., Maughan, A., & VanMeenan, K. (2000). Narrative representations of caregivers and self in maltreated preschoolers. Attachment and Human Development, 2, 271–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toth, S. L., Pickreign Stronach, E., Rogosch, F. A., Caplan, R., & Cicchetti, D. (in press). Thought disorder in maltreated children. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Trickett, P. K., Noll, J. G., Susman, E. J., Shenk, C. E., & Putnam, F. W. (2010). Attenuation of cortisol across development for victims of sexual abuse. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 165–175.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed