| Cortisol, a hormone released by the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (L-HPA) axis follows a typical circadian rhythm, and under stressful and challenging situations may show hyper- or hypo-responsiveness. Both high and low cortisol reactivity and levels correlate with psychological and cognitive processes, including problems in child adjustment. Thus, it is important to understand what risk factors predict the release of cortisol by the L-HPA axis, and how cortisol response relates to child adjustment. Multiple measures were used to examine salivary cortisol response, family risk, parenting behaviors, and child adjustment in a community sample of typically developing 3 year-olds (n = 69). Family risk, specifically negative life events, predicted less cortisol reactivity in response to a laboratory visit. Parenting did not mediate the relation between family risk factors and cortisol response. After accounting for variables of family risk and parenting, higher evening cortisol levels at home predicted less social competence and more externalizing problems. These results suggest that certain measures of cortisol response are related to negative life events, and thus, mechanisms through which this family risk factor impacts cortisol response should be further examined. In addition, children who are less socially competent and who experience more externalizing problems may be at risk of experiencing the effects of chronically elevated cortisol levels. |
