Early childhood stress regulation in out-of-home childcare and in at-home parental care – Associations with child temperament and age – The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study
Year: 2021
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Prior research suggests that attendance in out-of-home childcare has many positive effects on child development. Despite the advantages, earlier studies also show that children present with higher cortisol levels in out-of-home childcare day when compared to days spent at home. However, only few studies have followed up the same children longitudinally. Furthermore, earlier studies have not included a comparison group of children, who were cared for at home. This study aimed at comparing children’s diurnal saliva cortisol output in outof-home childcare and in at-home parental care settings at the child age of 2 and 3.5 years old. Furthermore, the aim was to examine whether child temperament would moderate the associations between the childcare context and diurnal cortisol production. The participants were recruited from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. The results showed that at the age of 2 years, the children presented with higher cortisol levels in at-home parental care when compared to the out-of-home childcare setting. However, these differences no longer appeared, as the children developed and reached the age of 3.5 years. When investigating the diurnal cortisol profiles, the results suggested higher afternoon cortisol levels in the out-of-home childcare group during the childcare day when compared to days spent at home. This difference appeared both at the age of 2 and 3.5 years old. Furthermore, temperamental surgency was associated with higher total diurnal cortisol production across the childcare settings. However, the association between surgency and diurnal cortisol production diminished along with the child age from 2 to 3.5 years of age. These findings have implications for understanding the periods of sensitivity in early childhood stress regulation and associations between temperament and cortisol output in different childcare settings.
Source: UTUPub (University of Turku)
Author: Katja Tervahartiala
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3163636594