Brief Report: An Examination of Curvilinear Relations Between Perceived Mother–Child Closeness and Maternal Hair Cortisol

Abstract

Interpersonal closeness has important health benefits; however, recent work suggests that in certain contexts, closeness can come at a cost. In the current study, curvilinear relations between mother–child closeness and health (e.g., depressive and anxiety symptoms and hair cortisol concentrations [HCC]) were tested. Our sample consisted of 117 mother (M_age = 36.86) and child (M_age = 73.07 months, 50.86% male) dyads. A quadratic relationship between maternal perceived closeness with their child and self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms, along with overall hair cortisol output, was hypothesized. Path analysis suggested that the quadratic term was predictive of maternal cortisol (β = 0.28, p = 0.001) and depression (β = 0.23, p = 0.014), such that both high and low perceived closeness predict greater maternal depressive symptoms and HCCs as compared to moderate levels of closeness. Results are discussed in terms of parenting support and burnout.