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Citation |
England-Mason G, Kimber M, Khoury J, Atkinson L, MacMillan H, Gonzalez A. Horm. Behav. 2017; 95: 44-56. |
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Affiliation |
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster Innovation Park, Hamilton, ON, Canada. Electronic address: gonzal@mcmaster.ca. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
28739247 |
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Abstract |
Exposure to child maltreatment can lead to long-term emotional difficulties and dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. However, no prior work has examined emotion regulation as a moderator of the association between childhood history of maltreatment and cortisol response to psychosocial challenge. Amongst a sample of 140 postpartum women, associations between childhood maltreatment, emotion regulation, and cortisol response to a computerized Emotional Stroop paradigm were examined using structural equation modeling. Three saliva samples (baseline, 20- and 40-min post challenge) were collected and later assayed for cortisol. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that difficulties with emotion regulation significantly moderated the association between maternal history of child maltreatment and cortisol reactivity (β=-0.17, CI.95=-0.31, -0.04, t=-2.51, p=0.01). Specifically, women with higher child maltreatment scores and greater difficulties with emotion regulation displayed reduced cortisol reactivity. This finding suggests that a blunted responsivity exists in postpartum women with higher levels of exposure to child maltreatment and difficulties with emotion regulation. As the postpartum period has significant implications for maternal well-being and infant development, these findings are discussed in terms of adaptive responsivity, maternal behaviour, and clinical practice. Language: en |
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Keywords |
Child maltreatment; Cortisol; Emotion regulation; HPA axis; Postpartum women; Psychosocial challenge |