Parents and infants: determinants of attachment in a ... - Generation R

Attachment, depression, and cortisol: Deviant patterns in insecure-resistant and disorganized infants
Attachment and Cortisol Diurnal Rhythm
The excretion of cortisol did show the expected diurnal pattern, with high
levels at awaking and a decline throughout the day. In the cortisol diurnal
curves of the infants, most children showed no morning rise. We performed
an ANCOVA to test the effect of attachment quality on the cortisol measures
AUC G , slope, and CAR. Again, attachment security and attachment disorganization
were entered as factors, and maternal depression was included as
a covariate. A main effect of disorganization was found for slope (F [1, 213]
= 3.99, p < .01, η 2 = .03), indicating a more fl attened slope for children with
a disorganized attachment classifi cation (slope disorganized group = -0.84,
SE = 0.11; slope non-disorganized group = -1.16, SE = 0.06; Figure 3). Also,
for AUC G , an interaction effect was found for attachment security and disorganization,
(F [2, 195] = 3.34, p = .04, η 2 = .03).
Disorganized-secure infants showed higher cortisol excretion (AUC G =
10.49, SE = 1.27) than disorganized-insecure infants (AUC G = 7.48, SE =
1.27 for children with a secondary avoidant classifi cation, and AUC G = 7.66,
SE = 1.05 for children with a secondary resistant classifi cation). Compared
to the non-disorganized group, cortisol excretion in the disorganized group
was more divergent, dependent on the second classifi cation. No effects were
found for CAR or maternal lifetime depression.
Figure 3. No differences in cortisol diurnal rhythm for secure, insecure-avoidant,
and insecure-resistant children; fl attened slope for disorganized children compared
to non-disorganized children
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