Lack of stability in neonatal adrenocortical reactivity because of rapid habituation of the adrenocortical response

✍ Scribed by Megan R. Gunnar; Joan Connors; Jill Isensee

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 831 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0012-1630
• DOI: 10.1002/dev.420220304

✦ Synopsis

The purpose of the study was to examine the stability of the adrenocortical response to stimulation in the human neonate. Forty-nine healthy newborns were examined twice responding to discharge examinations performed on two consecutive days. The dependent measures were salivary and plasma cortisol and behavioral state. Little evidence of stability was obtained. Instead, the results showed significant elevations in cortisol only in response to the first discharge examination. No significant elevation in cortisol was noted to the second discharge examination although the newborns continued to exhibit behavioral distress. Time since delivery was not a significant factor in producing these results. The findings are discussed with regard to neonatal coping processes and the importance of novelty in regulating increases in adrenocortical activity.

There is currently renewed interest in the physiological correlates of individual differences in behavioral development. One expression of this interest is the work on temperament, especially the work focused on identifying the possible physiological base of behavioral differences in reactivity to stressful or arousing events (e.g., Kagan, Reznick, & Snidman, 1987). Work of this type has a historical basis in both the temperament literature (see review by Rothbart, 1988, in press) and in earlier psychophysiological research, for example that following from Activation Theory . Concern about the psychological correlates of individual differences in physiological reactivity also characterizes much of the literature on stress .