TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - The effect of a maternal history of childhood abuse on adrenocortical attunement in mothers and their toddlers
JO  - Developmental psychobiology
A1  - Fuchs, Anna
A1  - Moehler, Eva
A1  - Resch, Franz
A1  - Kaess, Michael
SP  - 639
EP  - 652
VL  - 59
IS  - 5
N2  - 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>
LA  - en
SN  - 0012-1630
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dev.21531
ID  - ref1
ER  -