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与一生中更大的身体和心理疾病风险有关。应对压力的自我调节能力被认为是一种将早期家庭经历与长期健康联系起来的机制。尽管在儿童时期研究很多，但人们对照看经历在多大程度上影响成年后的自我调节能力知之甚少。此外，个体对压力的认知和情感自我调节反应的差异可能会调节或调节生理反应。目前的研究将解决这一重要的潜在认知途径，将早期照料经验与成年后的压力反应联系起来。参与者将包括60名年轻成年男女；一半来自高冲突/低情感家庭环境，一半来自低冲突/高情感家庭环境。将进行一项社会互动任务，参与者通过角色扮演向难相处的邻居(研究团队的一名邦联成员)提出请求。在角色扮演之前和之后的3个时间点将连续测量血压，并测量唾液皮质醇。这项任务将被录制下来，并对消极的言语和非言语行为以及应对方式进行分析。任务完成后，将评估对局势和邦联成员的情绪反应和认知评估。我们假设，与来自低冲突/高情感背景的参与者相比，来自高冲突/低情感家庭环境的参与者在角色扮演过程中表现出更多的负性情感，适应不良的应对反应，更多的消极认知评价，以及更高的皮质醇和血压反应。我们还假设认知/情感反应将调节生理反应。这项研究将提供关于压力的认知和情绪反应作为将早期护理经验与生理反应和长期健康联系起来的机制的重要信息。了解心理和生理脆弱性背后的认知和情感机制将有助于阐明和确定适当的心理治疗干预目标，对因早期照料不足而变得脆弱的个人进行心理治疗干预。

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.