Caregiving, Cognition, and Physiological Stress Response

描述（由申请人提供）：早期生活中的逆境，在不充分的生活形式已被链接到身体和心理疾病的风险更大的生命。自我调节能力，以应对压力已被提出作为一种机制，连接早期的家庭经验，以长期的健康。虽然在儿童中进行了充分的研究，但对于童年经历在多大程度上影响成年后的自我调节能力，人们知之甚少。此外，个体差异的认知和情感的自我调节反应的压力可能介导或缓和的生理反应。目前的研究将解决这一重要的潜在认知途径，将早期的经历与成年后的压力反应联系起来。参与者将包括60名年轻的成年男女;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。将进行一项社会互动任务，参与者角色扮演，向一个困难的邻居（研究小组的一个同伙）提出请求。将连续测量血压，并在角色扮演之前和之后的3个时间点测量唾液皮质醇。这项任务将被录像，并分析消极的语言和非语言行为，以及应对方式。任务完成后，将评估对情境和同伙的情绪反应和认知评价。我们假设，高冲突/低情感的家庭环境中的参与者将显示出更大的负面情绪在角色扮演，适应不良的应对反应，更大的负面认知评价，皮质醇和血压升高的反应相对于那些低冲突/高情感的背景。我们还假设，认知/情感反应将介导生理反应。这项研究将提供重要的信息，关于认知和情绪反应的作用，压力作为一种机制，连接早期的经验，生理反应和长期的健康。对心理和生理脆弱性背后的认知和情感机制的理解将有助于阐明和定义适当的心理治疗干预目标，这些目标是针对因早期干预不足而变得脆弱的个体。

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.