Adrenocortical Attunement Research Articles

The Family Biorhythm: Contributions of the HPA and HPG Axes to Neuroendocrine Attunement.

The vast majority of research on biobehavioral influences on development has focused on mothers and infants, whereas research on paternal biobehavioral influences remains sparse. This study aims to increase understanding of paternal influences on the biobehavioral dynamics of the family unit, using a multi-system approach. Participants consisted of 32 predominantly high-risk families recruited during pregnancy who completed monthly questionnaires and in-home visits when infants were 4, 12, and 18 months of age. In-home visits included semi-structured interaction tasks and saliva samples for cortisol and progesterone assays. Mothers and infants, but not fathers and infants, showed adrenocortical attunement, with the strongest attunement at 18 months. Second, mothers' couple satisfaction did not significantly impact infants' cortisol levels or mother-infant cortisol attunement, but mothers' progesterone moderated the relationship between couple satisfaction and infant cortisol levels such that mothers with low couple satisfaction, but high progesterone, had infants with lower cortisol levels. Finally, mothers' and fathers' progesterone levels were attuned across the time points. This is some of the first evidence of the establishment of the family biorhythm and suggests that fathers play an indirect role in facilitating mother-infant adrenocortical attunement. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40750-023-00215-0.

Self-disclosure is associated with adrenocortical attunement between new acquaintances

Adrenocortical attunement—similarity in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity—has been well-documented in close relationships (e.g., between romantic partners, parents and children, and close friends). However, little is known about adrenocortical attunement during early relationship formation. In the current study, we examine dyadic adrenocortical attunement during a guided conversation in which two new acquaintances (N = 140 people, 70 dyads), who were university students or adults in the community, answered questions about themselves. Dyads were randomly assigned to answer questions designed to elicit dyad members to reveal a high or low amount of personal information (i.e., to self-disclose at high or low levels). We collected saliva samples (assayed for cortisol) before and after the conversation, and we coded behavioral self-disclosure—the extent to which people revealed their thoughts, feelings, and facts about themselves—during the conversation. As expected, dyads who were assigned to ask and answer high self-disclosure questions disclosed more than those assigned to ask and answer low self-disclosure questions. In addition, greater self-disclosure during the conversation was associated with greater similarity in cortisol change—that is, dyad members who revealed more about themselves experienced more similar cortisol changes in response to their conversation. This work reveals one social process through which adrenocortical attunement occurs during early relationship formation, and, in doing so, describes how our physiological functioning is linked to those around us—even people we have just met.

Adrenocortical interdependence in father-infant and mother-infant dyads: Attunement or something more?

Father-infant and mother-infant (one-year-olds) adrenocortical attunement was explored during the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) among 125 father-infant and 141 mother-infant dyads. Cortisol was assessed at baseline (T1), 20 (T2), and 40 minutes (T3) after the first parent-infant separation. Initial correlations indicated significant associations between father-infant and mother-infant cortisol at each time. Cortisol interdependence was further explored using Actor-Partner Interdependence Models. There was no evidence supporting cortisol interdependence based on within-time residual correlations between parent-infant cortisol, once stability and cross-lagged paths were controlled. Infant cortisol at T2 predicted T3 cortisol for fathers and mothers resulting in a series of follow-up exploratory analyses to examine mediating processes which revealed that infant distress during the SSP predicted infant T2 cortisol, which, in turn, predicted infant negativity during the 15-min mother-infant teaching task that followed the SSP. Among father-infant dyads, infant T2 cortisol predicted infant negativity during father-infant interaction, with infants expressing more negativity having less sensitive fathers. Findings provide little support of parent-infant adrenocortical attunement across either father-infant or mother-infant dyads during the SSP, but preliminary evidence indicates infant distress as a potential mediator. Future research may want to focus on affective and behavioral processes that underlie the concept of parent-infant adrenocortical attunement.

Adrenocortical attunement betweeen infants and their fathers and mothers

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a key protein in brain plasticity and is particularly important for survival of dopaminergic neurons. The Val66Met polymorphism of BDNF (rs6265) has been associated with functional differences (mainly cognitive) between healthy adults and also with differences in the clinical expression of several other neuropsychiatric illnesses including PD. However, these studies used different outcome measures, have not been replicated, and were cross sectional, making it difficult to establish the role of BDNF in the clinical variability of PD. Here, a large cohort of 384 PD patients were followed up for 2 years, and associations between BDNF genotype and various clinical characteristics were examined. The BDNF Met-allele carriers showed a significantly smaller decline in set shifting during follow-up compared with the homozygous BDNF Val-allele carriers. Contrary to previous assumptions, these results indicate that mental flexibility is one of the cognitive processes that may benefit from the BDNF Met allele in PD patients.

Adrenocortical attunement, reactivity, and potential genetic correlates among parent-daughter dyads from low-income families.

Examining the multitude of influences on the development of adolescent stress responses, especially among low-income families, is a critical and understudied topic in the field. The current study examined cortisol attunement between adolescent girls and parents (mostly mothers) from predominantly low-income, single parent, ethnic minority families before and after an in-laboratory disagreement discussion task. The sample consisted of 118 adolescents (Mage =13.79years, 76.3% ethnic minorities, 23.7% European Americans) and primary caregivers (Mage =40.62years; Mdn yearly income = $24,000; 43.2% single parents; 50% living below poverty line). We investigated oxytocin receptor (OXTR rs53576) gene variations as a potential contributor to attunement within the dyad. Results showed that parents and adolescents showed stress system attunement across the disagreement task, but that parent and adolescent oxytocin receptor genotype did not impact attunement. Future studies should detail biological factors that contribute to the calibration of stress response systems of adolescents across a variety of samples, particularly those experiencing a combination of stressors.

The role of co-rumination and adrenocortical attunement in young women's close friendships

The role of co-rumination and adrenocortical attunement in young women's close friendships

The role of co-rumination and adrenocortical attunement in young women’s close friendships

Attunement, or synchrony, of behavior and physiology has been well documented in family, mother-child, and romantic relationships. This study aimed to determine whether attunement of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis occurs in women’s close friendships, and the role of a common social style, co-rumination in that attunement. Saliva samples (later assayed for cortisol) were collected from 37 dyads (74 individuals) during a laboratory task in which they were either asked to work together toward a common goal (control task) or discuss interpersonal problems, providing opportunity for co-rumination. Findings suggest that friends demonstrated adrenocortical attunement prior to engaging in either task, and that the level of attunement prior to the task predicted co-rumination and its components for both groups. Co-rumination, in turn, predicted adrenocortical attunement after the task. These findings suggest that bidirectional attunement of HPA activity may serve a bonding function within women’s close friendships. Implications for how these findings fit with the tend-and-befriend hypothesis are discussed.

Outcomes of early parent-child adrenocortical attunement in the high-risk offspring of depressed parents.

This study examined the impact of parent-child attunement of morning cortisol on parenting and child outcomes in dyads with and without parental depression. Participants included 142 parent-child dyads (3-5 years-old) who provided morning cortisol samples at Wave 1, and 98 dyads returned for the 3-year follow-up at Wave 2. Results indicated that for parents with a history of depression and for female children, stronger attunement predicted increases in parental hostility from Wave 1 to Wave 2. For females only, stronger attunement was related to children's depressive symptoms at Wave 1 and Wave 2. Stronger attunement was also associated with increases in children's depressive symptoms from Wave 1 to Wave 2, poorer psychosocial functioning at Wave 1, and ADHD symptoms at Wave 2. Findings highlight attunement as an important biological process related to parenting and child outcomes and suggest it may play a role in the intergenerational transmission of depression risk.

The Roles of Mothers’ Partner Satisfaction and Mother-Infant Communication Duration in Mother-Infant Adrenocortical Attunement

Physiological attunement between mothers and infants is emerging as an important indicator of infant information processing, emotion regulation, and health outcomes. Far less understood is the role of paternal support and maternal satisfaction with her partner in facilitating the mother-infant biorhythm. This exploratory study evaluated the impact of maternal satisfaction with her romantic partner and mother-infant communication features on mother-infant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis attunement. Mothers were asked to complete a series of questionnaires in the presence of her infant, requiring approximately 45 min, occupying maternal attention and serving as a mild challenge for the infant. After completion of the questionnaires, mothers’ and infants’ saliva were collected and later assayed for cortisol. Maternal reports of couple satisfaction (n = 33) impacted mother-infant adrenocortical attunement such that those reporting more satisfaction with their partner showed more attunement with their infants. Maternal reports of couple satisfaction (n = 33) were associated with lower infant, but not lower maternal cortisol levels. Finally, mothers who reported engaging in more infant-directed speech (n = 47), a potential index of maternal sensitivity, showed more attunement with their infants. Removal of an outlier (infant cortisol) reduced the findings to marginal significance in the predicted direction. Though this study is exploratory and the findings are tentative, we conclude that one way that fathers may indirectly contribute to infant outcomes is through social support of the mother, and that infant-directed speech may facilitate mother-infant attunement.

The effect of a maternal history of childhood abuse on adrenocortical attunement in mothers and their toddlers.

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.

Supportive behaviors in adolescent romantic relationships moderate adrenocortical attunement

This study investigated dyadic adrenocortical attunement within adolescent romantic relationships. An ethnically diverse sample (42% Latino) of adolescent heterosexual dating couples (N=91 dyads, Mage=16.5 years, SD=0.99) donated eight saliva samples (later assayed for cortisol) over the course of a 3-h laboratory session. Supportive behaviors were coded during a conflict and jealousy interaction task from video recordings, and participants completed pre-and-post task questionnaires. Parallel process latent growth models revealed a strong positive association between the couples’ cortisol intercept, indicating that couples show attunement in initial levels of cortisol. Further, observed supportive behavior moderated the strength of the association between dyadic cortisol slopes. The results imply that low levels of supportive behavior predicted stronger adrenocortical attunement in the change in cortisol levels over time between adolescent romantic partners. These findings indicate that even early romantic relationships exhibit coordination of physiological activity. Findings raise the possibility that adrenocortical attunement may be a dyadic pathway through which the proximal social context of early romantic relationships is translated into risk or resilience in health and behavior.

Stress Physiology in Infancy and Early Childhood: Cortisol Flexibility, Attunement and Coordination.

Research on stress physiology in infancy has assumed increasing importance due to its lifelong implications. In this review, we focus on measurement of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function, in particular, and on complementary autonomic processes. We suggest that the measure of HPA function has been overly exclusive, focusing on individual reactivity to single, pragmatically selected laboratory challenges. We advocate use of multiple, strategically chosen challenges and within-subject designs. By administering one challenge that typically does not provoke reactivity and another that does, it is possible to represent allostatic load in terms of "flexibility," the capacity to titrate response to challenge. We also recommend assessing infant reactivity in the context of the primary caregiver's physiological function. Infant-mother "attunement" is central to developmental psychology, permeating diverse developmental domains with varied consequences. A review of adrenocortical attunement suggests that attunement is a reliable process, manifest across varied populations. However, attunement appears stronger in the context of more highly stressful circumstances, such that administration of multiple, selected challenges may help evaluate the degree to which individuals titrate attunement to challenge and determine the correlates of this differential attunement. Finally, we advocate studying the "coordination" of HPA function with other aspects of stress physiology and variation in the degree of this coordination. The use of multiple stressors is important here because each stress system is differentially sensitive to different types of challenge. Therefore, use of single stressors in between-subject designs impedes full recognition of the role played by each system. Overall, we recommend measure of flexibility, attunement, and coordination in the context of multiple challenges to capture allostasis in environmental and physiological context. The simultaneous use of such inclusive and integrative metrics may yield more reliable findings than has hitherto been the case. The interrelation of these metrics can be understood in the context of the adaptive calibration model..

Sex-specific differences in adrenocortical attunement in mothers with a history of childhood abuse and their 5-month-old boys and girls.

Recent evidence points to the existence of a neurobiological attunement between mother and child, e.g., associations between maternal and child hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. As maternal history of abuse (HoA) has been shown to negatively affect mother-child interaction and HPA-axis functioning, we theorized those experiences to exert an influence on cortisol attunement, and we examined the role of infant gender in this context. Shortly after birth of their first child, a community sample of women was screened using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Mothers reporting moderate or severe sexual and/or physical abuse were included in the maltreatment group (n=41; MG) and compared with a non-maltreated comparison group (n=47; CG). At the child's age of 5months, mother and infant baseline salivary cortisol was collected on two consecutive days between 11 and 1 o'clock. Correlation analyses confirmed an association between maternal and infant salivary cortisol levels for the complete sample. However, hierarchical regression models revealed a moderating role of maternal HoA and infant gender: in the CG, cortisol attunement was only significant in mother-daughter dyads, whereas in the MG, we found cortisol levels to be associated only in mother-son dyads. Consequently, alterations of neurobiological attunement between mother and child might compose a mechanism for the transgenerational transmission of adverse childhood experiences.

Maternal-child adrenocortical attunement in early childhood: continuity and change.

This study evaluated continuity and change in maternal-child hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis attunement in early childhood. Participants were drawn from a prospective study of 1,292 mother-child dyads, which were racially diverse, predominantly low-income, and non-urban. Child focused stress tasks designed to elicit anger, fear, and frustration were administered during early infancy, later infancy, and toddlerhood. Mothers' and children's saliva samples (later assayed for cortisol) were collected before and after the tasks. The strength of mother-child adrenocortical attunement was conserved across infancy and toddlerhood. The magnitude of maternal-child adrenocortical attunement decreased in response to the child-focused stress tasks. Maternal sensitivity and the child's task-related emotional reactivity moderated adrenocortical attunement across the task, with greater maternal sensitivity during a free-play, and lower levels of child emotional reactivity during the stress tasks, stabilizing attunement from pre- to post-task levels. The findings advance our understanding of individual differences in the social regulation of adrenocortical activity in early childhood.

Adrenocortical attunement in mother–child dyads: Importance of situational and behavioral characteristics

Synchronization of behavior, emotions and autonomic physiology in mother–child dyads is related to adaptive functioning in children. It is important to explore the possibility of “attunement”, or systematic synchronization, of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis because it is sensitive to social information processing at an unconscious level. Due to limited research in humans, the present study aimed to demonstrate mother–child cortisol attunement in a human population, and examine how behavioral sensitivity may moderate this association. Saliva samples were collected from 75 mother–child dyads during a home visit. A free-play task was used to determine behavioral sensitivity within the dyad. Findings suggest that mother–child dyads demonstrate attunement of HPA axis activity and that attunement is particularly prominent during times of increased challenge. Furthermore, results suggest factors associated with behavioral sensitivity may influence attunement within the dyad. Bidirectional synchronization of adrenocortical levels may serve to positively impact later developmental outcomes in children.