@article{ref1,
title="The effect of a maternal history of childhood abuse on adrenocortical attunement in mothers and their toddlers",
journal="Developmental psychobiology",
year="2017",
author="Fuchs, Anna and Moehler, Eva and Resch, Franz and Kaess, Michael",
volume="59",
number="5",
pages="639-652",
abstract="We investigated circadian mother-child adrenocortical attunement in the context of a maternal history of childhood abuse (HoA). Mothers were screened after birth using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Women reporting moderate or severe abuse formed the HoA group (n = 37; HoAG) and were compared with a non-maltreated comparison group (n = 45; CG). Three years later, cortisol awakening response (CAR) and diurnal slope (DSL) were assessed. Mother-child interaction was coded using the Emotional Availability Scales at 12 months of age. For the CAR, we found adrenocortical attunement only in the HoAG (2-way interaction: p = .004), particularly if mothers scored low on structuring (3-way interaction: p = .042) and children scored low on responsiveness (3-way interaction: p = .044). DSL-attunement was dependent on maternal sensitivity (3-way interaction: p = .012) and child involvement (3-way interaction: p = .012). In the context of a maternal HoA, it seems possible for mother-child-dyads to show less optimal interactional quality but be stronger attuned to each other biologically.<br><br>© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0012-1630",
doi="10.1002/dev.21531",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dev.21531"
}