title: Maternal sensitivity and infant autonomic and endocrine stress responses.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early environmental exposures may help shape the development of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, influencing vulnerability for health problems across the lifespan. Little is known about the role of maternal sensitivity in influencing the development of the ANS in early life.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine associations among maternal sensitivity and infant behavioral distress and ANS and HPA axis reactivity to the Repeated Still-Face Paradigm (SFP-R), a dyadic stress task.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational repeated measures study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-five urban, sociodemographically diverse mothers and their 6-month-old infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Changes in infant affective distress, heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and T-wave amplitude (TWA) across episodes of the SFP-R were assessed. A measure of cortisol output (area under the curve) in the hour following cessation of the SFP-R was also obtained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Greater maternal insensitivity was associated with greater infant sympathetic activation (TWA) during periods of stress and tended to be associated with greater cortisol output following the SFP-R. There was also evidence for greater affective distress and less parasympathetic activation (RSA) during the SFP-R among infants of predominantly insensitive mothers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Caregiving quality in early life may influence the responsiveness of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the ANS as well as the HPA axis. Consideration of the ANS and HPA axis systems together provides a fuller representation of adaptive versus maladaptive stress responses. The findings highlight the importance of supporting high quality caregiving in the early years of life, which is likely to promote later health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States. Electronic address: michelle.bosquet@childrens.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bosquet Enlow
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Kravis Children's Hospital, New York, NY, United States; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Hannah Mc
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Schreier
authors.affiliation: Anxiety and Mood Disorders Center, Child Mind Institute, New York City, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Jamie M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, United States.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rosenfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.affiliation: Kravis Children's Hospital, New York, NY, United States; Mindich Child Health & Development Institute, New York, NY, United States; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States; Mindich Child Health & Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Rosalind J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology*; D007223:Infant; D009035:Mothers; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000502:physiology*; D065809:Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Autonomic nervous system; HPA axis; Infant; Maternal sensitivity; Parasympathetic; Sympathetic