title: Cortisol Reactions During Family Conflict Discussions: Influences of Wives' and Husbands' Exposure to Family-of-Origin Aggression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Though family-of-origin aggression (FOA) is a known risk for later emotional and physical problems in adulthood, little is known about how early exposure to aggression influences physiological reactivity in the domain-specific context of family conflict experienced as an adult. This study investigates whether report of FOA influences spouses' hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses during conflict discussions with their family-of-procreation and also whether current hostilities, observed during a family discussion, moderate those responses.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a sample of 91 families, we measured parents' HPA responses through salivary cortisol total output and discussion-related increase surrounding 15-minute hot-topic discussions that trained observers coded for family members' hostility. Partners' also reported on eight items assessing parent-to-child and interparental FOA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In models testing within-partner and across-partner influences, wives' higher FOA was linked with increases in their own and their husbands' cortisol. Spouses' own FOA showed significant interactions with the partners' hostility to affect total cortisol output, although in an attenuated direction for wives and a heightened direction for husbands.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that HPA responsiveness can elucidate links between family-of-origin experiences and adult intimate relationships and may be a factor in risk and resilience over time.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California.
authors.forename: Reout
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arbel
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California.
authors.forename: Aubrey J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California.
authors.forename: Gayla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Margolin
keywords: HPA axis; cortisol; dyadic; family aggression; family conflict discussion; family-of-origin