Childcare Relationships and Bickering Parents Affect Kids’ Stress Hormones

It seems self-evident that kids with poor
childcare relationships or parents who frequently fight are more
stressed than other kids. But now two new studies have established this common sense theory
from a biological standpoint, by monitoring the levels of cortisol (the human
stress hormone) in preschoolers and 6-year-olds. As parents across the country struggle to afford high
quality childcare and to maintain a stable home environment, these studies are unfortunately quite applicable to these trying economic times.

In most people, cortisol levels decrease throughout the day.
But for many children in full-time daycare, the stress hormone increases as the
day progresses. Researchers found that class size clearly affected children’s
moods, with preschoolers in classes of 10 or fewer children producing less
cortisol than those in classrooms with closer to 20 other kids. 

Children with poor relationships with their daycare providers
became more stressed after one-on-one interactions with the teacher, while
clingier kids had higher overall cortisol increases throughout the day.

Similarly, a study of 6-year-olds with bickering parents
found that those who were very involved in and distressed about the fights produced
more cortisol than other 6-year-olds. Since high levels of cortisol have been
linked to health and psychological problems, this finding offers a biological
understanding of why kids who get very upset by their parents’ arguments are
more likely to have psychological problems later. (Whether higher levels of cortisol are a cause or an effect of psychological disorders is not clear.) 

The study’s authors hope that understanding the biological basis
of stress in young children will change the way kids in these common
problematic situations are treated. For instance, monitoring kids’ levels of
cortisol could help indicate whether a given intervention is working to relieve
stress or not.