Attachment dimensions and cortisol responses during the strange situation among young children adopted internationally.

Abstract

Children's attachments to their parents may help regulate their hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axes. Prior research has largely focused on children with relatively consistent and low-risk caregiving histories, resulting in limited knowledge about the associations between attachment quality and HPA axis reactivity among children who have experienced early adversity. This study investigated whether dimensional measures of attachment quality were associated with HPA responses to the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) among 64 children ages 11-33 months adopted internationally from institutional or foster care. Children who showed high levels of attachment avoidance exhibited a blunted cortisol response during the SSP. Conversely, children who sought proximity and contact with their adoptive parents exhibited an increase in cortisol reactivity during the SSP, followed by a return to baseline levels after the completion of the procedure. This association was independent of the previously reported association between parental insensitivity and blunted cortisol responses in this sample.