Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Spat, Spite and Spit: Interparental Conflict, Child Adjustment and the Role of Children’s Physiological Stress-System Activity Patricia Pendry Washington.

Similar presentations


Presentation on theme: "Spat, Spite and Spit: Interparental Conflict, Child Adjustment and the Role of Children’s Physiological Stress-System Activity Patricia Pendry Washington."— Presentation transcript:

1 Spat, Spite and Spit: Interparental Conflict, Child Adjustment and the Role of Children’s Physiological Stress-System Activity Patricia Pendry Washington State University, Human Development

2 Everything you have always wanted to know about spite and spit but were afraid to ask…. aka …

3 Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2004 Introduction BA Psychology Ph.D. Human Development and Social Policy Infancy and Early Childhood Biobehavioral Approach towards Family Life, Child Stress and Development

4 Research focus: Interparental Discord and Child Development

5 Background: What do we know? Child Development Interparental Conflict Associations between Interparental Conflict and Child Adjustment across Developmental Domains (Buehler et.al., 1997; Grych & Fincham, 2001)

6 What don’t we know? ? Child Development Interparental Conflict

7 Theoretical Perspective HPA axis Activity Child Development Interparental Conflict

8 HPA - Axis: Hypothalamus, Pituitary, Adrenal Marker of HPA axis activity: Cortisol

9 Cortisol is present in Saliva

10 Why do we care about cortisol?  HPA axis is sensitive to social stressors and supports  IPC is stressor  Affects a wide variety of physiological systems  Implications for short-term functioning and long-term outcomes  Measurable non-invasively and reliably in naturalistic settings

11 Time 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Cortisol Time 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Organization of the HPA-Axis: Circadian Release of Cortisol

12 HPA activity in response to stressor

13 Time 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Cortisol Time 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Organization of the HPA-Axis: Momentary Reactivity to Stressor

14 Time 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Cortisol Time 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Frequent/Chronic Activation: Dysregulation

15 Time 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Cortisol Time 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 - Wake-up, Bedtime - Slope - AUC Individual Differences in Basal Functioning -CRT -CRTA

16 Child Cortisol Marital Functioning Pendry, P. & Adam, E.K. (2007). Associations between Parents’ Marital Functioning, Maternal Parenting Quality, Maternal Emotion and Child Cortisol Levels. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31 (3), 218–231. Prior work

17 Study 1 Results:  Do children living in homes with better marital functioning have lower average levels of cortisol than children living in homes with worse marital functioning?  Yes!

18 Parent Marital Functioning and Diurnal Cortisol Slopes of Kindergartners

19 Child Development Physiological Stress-Activity Interparental Conflict Negative Emotionality Current Study: Family Life and Stress Study

20 Participants and Procedures  2-parent families  Child between 3-7 years  In-Home by parents  Part I:  Surveys from both parents  8 samples of child saliva  Part II, 18-24 months later:  Surveys from both parents  8 samples of child saliva  75$ for Part, 75$ for Part II  Part III Labvisit

21 Method: Salivary Cortisol Sampling LickDipTasteSwoosh Spit in vial or cupClose …. Tightly!

22 Great job … YOU get a sticker!

23 Sampling times  2 consecutive weekdays  8 samples in the home  Sampling times:  Wake-up  30 minutes after  3.30 afternoon  Bedtime

24 Measures  Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS-2; Straus & Hamby, 1996)  Negotiation  Psychological aggression  Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS; Spanier, 1976)  Parental Involvement  Depressive Symptomatology in last 2 weeks (IDD)  Child Behavior (CBCL) and Social Competence  Child Temperament Questionnaire (CBQ)  Negative Emotionality (e.g., anger frustration, sadness)

25 Family Life and Stress Study: Research Question  Do children living in higher conflict homes have higher average levels of cortisol production than children living in lower conflict homes, and is this association moderated by children’s levels of negative emotionality?

26 Preliminary Results: Interparental Conflict and Children’s Average Cortisol Levels

27 Interparental Conflict on Diurnal Cortisol Slopes of High NE Children

28 Interparental Conflict and Diurnal Cortisol Slopes of Low NE Children

29 Child Development Physiological Stress-Activity Interparental Conflict Negative Emotionality Current Study: Family Life and Stress Study

30 Data Collection is ongoing!  We need more families  Flyer  Call 509 335 8365  ppendry@wsu.edu

31 Questions?

32 THANK YOU!


Download ppt "Spat, Spite and Spit: Interparental Conflict, Child Adjustment and the Role of Children’s Physiological Stress-System Activity Patricia Pendry Washington."

Similar presentations


Ads by Google