Caregiving, Cognition, and Physiological Stress Response

描述（由申请人提供）：早期生活中的逆境，以照顾不足的形式出现，与一生中更大的生理和心理疾病风险有关。对压力的自我调节能力被认为是早期家庭经历与长期健康之间联系的一种机制。虽然对儿童的研究很充分，但对照顾经历对成年后自我调节能力的影响程度知之甚少。此外，对压力的认知和情感自我调节反应的个体差异可能介导或调节生理反应。目前的研究将解决这一重要的潜在认知途径，将早期照顾经历与成年后的压力反应联系起来。参与者将包括60名年轻成年男性和女性；一半来自高冲突/低情感的家庭环境，一半来自低冲突/高情感的家庭环境。在一项社会互动任务中，参与者将扮演一个角色，向一个难相处的邻居（研究小组的一个同盟者）提出要求。将持续测量血压，并在角色扮演前和角色扮演后的三个时间点测量唾液皮质醇。该任务将被录像并分析消极的语言和非语言行为以及应对方式。在任务完成后，将对情境和同盟者的情绪反应和认知评价进行评估。我们假设来自高冲突/低情感家庭环境的参与者在角色扮演中表现出更大的消极情感、适应不良的应对反应、更大的消极认知评价、更高的皮质醇和血压反应。我们还假设认知/情感反应将介导生理反应。这项研究将为认知和情绪反应对压力的作用提供重要信息，作为一种机制，将早期照顾经历与生理反应和长期健康联系起来。对心理和生理脆弱性的认知和情感机制的理解将有助于阐明和确定适当的目标，以便对早期照顾不足而变得脆弱的个体进行心理治疗干预。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Early life adversity in the form of inadequate caregiving has been linked to greater risk of physical and psychological illness over the lifespan. Self-regulatory ability in response to stress has been proposed as a mechanism linking early family experiences to long-term health. Although well-studied in children, little is known about the extent to which caregiving experiences affect self-regulatory ability into adulthood. In addition, individual differences in cognitive and affective self-regulatory responses to stress may mediate or moderate physiological responses. The current study will address this important potential cognitive pathway linking early caregiving experiences to stress-responding in adulthood. Participants will include 60 young adult men and women; half from high conflict/low affection family environments, and half from low conflict/high affection family environments. A social interaction task will be conducted in which participants role-play making a request from a difficult neighbor (a confederate from the research team). Blood pressure will be taken continuously, and salivary cortisol will be measured before and at 3 timepoints following the role-play. The task will be videotaped and analyzed for negative verbal and nonverbal behavior, and coping styles. Emotional responses and cognitive appraisals of the situation and the confederate will be assessed following the task. We hypothesize that participants from high conflict/low affection family environments will display greater negative affectivity during the role-play, maladaptive coping responses, greater negative cognitive appraisals, and elevated cortisol and blood pressure responses relative to those from low conflict/high affection backgrounds. We also hypothesize that cognitive/affective responses will mediate physiological reactivity. This study will provide important information regarding the role of cognitive and emotional responses to stress as a mechanism linking early caregiving experiences to physiological reactivity and long-term health. An understanding of cognitive and emotional mechanisms underlying psychological and physiological vulnerability will help to articulate and define appropriate targets for psychotherapeutic intervention with individuals rendered vulnerable by inadequate early caregiving.