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. 2018 Feb:132:143-153.
doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.11.011. Epub 2017 Dec 15.

Person-centered examination of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase responses to psychosocial stress: Links to preadolescent behavioral functioning and coping

Jason José Bendezú  1 , Martha E Wadsworth  2
Affiliations

Person-centered examination of salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase responses to psychosocial stress: Links to preadolescent behavioral functioning and coping

Jason José Bendezú et al. Biol Psychol. 2018 Feb.

Abstract

This study adopted a person-centered approach to identify preadolescent salivary cortisol (sC) and alpha-amylase (sAA) co-activation response patterns and examine links to behavioral functioning and coping. Children (N = 151, 51.7% male) were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and one of two randomly-assigned, post-TSST coping conditions: distraction or avoidance. Multi-trajectory modeling yielded four child subgroups. Child internalizing and externalizing positively predicted High sC-High sAA relative to Low sC-Low sAA and Low sC-High sAA relative to High sC-Low sAA subgroup membership, respectively. Low sC-Low sAA children demonstrated more efficient sC recovery when primed with distraction and more protracted sC recovery when primed with avoidance. For High sC-High sAA, internalizing children, the opposite was true. Findings illustrate adjustment-linked variability in preadolescent sC-sAA co-activation response patterns that further articulates for whom effortful coping works to effectively manage stressor-induced neuroendocrine activation.

Keywords: Alpha-amylase; Coping; Cortisol; Preadolescence; Trajectories.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Actual versus predicted salivary cortisol (sC) and alpha amylase (sAA) trajectories for the final four-group multi-trajectory model solution. Shaded region denotes when the TSST-C occurred. Reverse fourth root transformed values presented for visual clarity and ease of interpretation. Title values in parentheses reflect the number of children assigned to each group and probabilities of group membership.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimated salivary cortisol (sC) concentrations for Low sC–Low sAA and High sC–High sAA groups bycoping condition. Shaded region denotes when the TSST-C occurred. Reverse fourth root transformed values presented for visual clarity and ease of interpretation. Title values in parentheses reflect the number of childrenassigned to each group and probabilities of group membership.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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