Abstract
BackgroundTympanic membrane temperature (TMT) has been proposed as an indicator of cerebral activation and TMT asymmetry may indicate lateralization, which has been associated with specific (problem) behaviors in children and adults. The current study explored the relations between pre-adoption living arrangements, TMT, and behavior and sleep problems in a sample of adopted toddlers.MethodsNinety-two families who had adopted a Chinese girl who had previously been placed in an institution or foster care reported on behavior problems using the Child Behavior Checklist and TMT two months (Time 1) and six months (Time 2) after adoption.ResultsStructural equation modeling revealed that institutionalized children had significantly higher left than right TMTs compared with foster care children at Time 2. A higher left than right TMT was associated with increased sleep problems and total behavior problems at Time 1, but not at Time 2.ConclusionsOur findings with regard to pre-adoption living arrangements, TMT asymmetry, and sleep problems suggest that TMT is sensitive to early environmental influences and may be a biological marker of vulnerability to the development of sleep problems in children from adverse backgrounds.
Highlights
Tympanic membrane temperature (TMT) has been proposed as an indicator of cerebral activation and TMT asymmetry may indicate lateralization, which has been associated with specific behaviors in children and adults
As relatively more sleep problems have been found in young children adopted from China (Tan et al 2007), we explored the association between sleep problems and TMT asymmetry
R-TMT asymmetry scores at Time 1 were significantly less for children who had lived in foster care compared with institutionalized children, t(66) = −2.30, p = .03, d = −0.57
Summary
Tympanic membrane temperature (TMT) has been proposed as an indicator of cerebral activation and TMT asymmetry may indicate lateralization, which has been associated with specific (problem) behaviors in children and adults. Tympanic membrane temperature (TMT) or ear temperature may be an indicator of physical well-being, but has been proposed as an indicator of cerebral temperature and hemispheric lateralization (Schiffer et al 1999; Cherbuin and Brinkman 2004; Propper and Brunyé 2013). Because it is a non-invasive method that requires minimal resources, it may be an attractive method to measure neural activity in addition to other methods (Boyce et al 2002; Propper et al 2013). Findings of associations between specific behaviors and motivations such as activation versus inhibition (Helton 2010) and frontal EEG asymmetry illustrate the importance of cerebral asymmetry (Boyce et al 2002)
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