ArticleDevelopmental psychobiology2020
Unpredictable maternal behavior is associated with a blunted infant cortisol response.
Article in Developmental psychobiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed.
- Temporal reorganization of maternal care during early life stress in mice.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Unpredictable caregiving is associated with disrupted neurophysiological measures of attention and autonomic function in three-month-old infants.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Unpredictable maternal signals and developmental profiles of child executive function from infancy to early childhood.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2026Article
- Microbiome-behavior coupling shapes infant adaptation to early maternal unpredictability.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Research Review: Assessment of early-life adversity and trauma - cumulative risk and dimensional approaches.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Review
- Sex-Specific Effects of Early-Life Unpredictability on Hippocampal and Amygdala Responses to Novelty in Adolescents.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Exposure to unpredictable childhood environments is associated with amygdala activation during early extinction in adulthood.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2025Article
- The evolving neurobiology of early-life stress.Neuron · 2025Review
- Altered Patterns of Maternal Behavior Transitions in Rats Exposed to Limited Bedding and Nesting Material Paradigm.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- Leveraging the science of early life predictability to inform policies promoting child health.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2024Review
- Individual longitudinal changes in DNA-methylome identify signatures of early-life adversity and correlate with later outcome.Neurobiology of stress · 2024Article
- Childhood unpredictability is associated with increased risk for long- and short-term depression and anhedonia symptoms following combat deployment.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2024Article
- Annual Research Review: The power of predictability - patterns of signals in early life shape neurodevelopment and mental health trajectories.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2024Review
- Across ages and places: Unpredictability of maternal sensory signals and child internalizing behaviors.Journal of affective disorders · 2024Article
- Using Daily Diary Assessments to Better Understand the Role of Parental Consistency in the Development of Externalizing Child Behavior.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2024Article
- Within-subject changes in methylome profile identify individual signatures of early-life adversity, with a potential to predict neuropsychiatric outcome.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Maternal Early Life Adversity and Infant Stress Regulation: Intergenerational Associations and Mediation by Maternal Prenatal Mental Health.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2023Article
- Increases in maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy and infant cortisol reactivity: Mediation by placental corticotropin-releasing hormone.Development and psychopathology · 2023Article
- Contribution of early-life unpredictability to neuropsychiatric symptom patterns in adulthood.Depression and anxiety · 2022Article
- Resource scarcity but not maternal separation provokes unpredictable maternal care sequences in mice and both upregulateNeurobiology of stress · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is associated with poor physical and mental health. Early-life adversity may dysregulate cortisol response to subsequent stress. This study examines the association between patterns of maternal behavior and infant stress response to a challenge. Specifically, we test whether infant exposure to unpredictable maternal sensory signals is related to the cortisol response to a painful stressor.
methodParticipants were 102 mothers and their children enrolled in a longitudinal study. Patterns of maternal sensory signals were evaluated at 6 and 12 months during a 10-min mother-infant play episode. Entropy rate was calculated as a quantitative measure of the degree of unpredictability of maternal sensory signals (visual, auditory, and tactile) exhibited during the play episode. Infant saliva samples were collected for cortisol analysis before and after inoculation at 12 months.
resultsUnpredictable patterns of maternal sensory signals were associated with a blunted infant cortisol response to a painful stressor. This relation persisted after evaluation of covariates including maternal sensitivity and maternal psychological distress.
conclusionsThis study provides evidence that unpredictable patterns of maternal sensory signals are one process through which caregiving affects the function of infant stress response systems.
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