title: Parental Sense of Coherence in the first 2 years of life is not related to parental and child diurnal cortisol rhythm or proxies of anthroposophic lifestyle.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sense of Coherence (SOC) is hypothesized to have direct physiological consequences on endocrine and immunological processes. In this study, we compare parental SOC scores from pregnancy in groups of infants and parents representing different lifestyles (anthroposophic, partly anthroposophic and nonanthroposophic). We also analyse whether these could predict cortisol levels of the parents and their infants at 6-24 months postpartum.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parental SOC-13 was collected during the third trimester of pregnancy from a birth cohort of families with different lifestyles. Salivary samples were collected from the whole family when the child was 6 months (n = 210), 12 (n = 178) and 24 months of age (n = 149), and cortisol levels were analysed with radioimmunoassay technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sense of Coherence scores did not differ between the three lifestyle groups, and there were no correlations between SOC scores and salivary cortisol concentrations in separate analyses of mothers, fathers and children at any sampling age or at any sampling time during the day (morning, afternoon, bedtime).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sense of Coherence scores did not vary in parents with different lifestyles and were not associated with salivary cortisol levels in parents or in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. jackie.swartz@neuro.uu.se
authors.forename: Jackie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Swartz
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alm
authors.forename: Töres
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Theorell
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lindblad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000887:Anthroposophy / Q000523:psychology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D060685:Sense of Coherence / Q000502:physiology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Anthroposophic lifestyle; Child; Cortisol; Sense of Coherence; Stress