The ecology of threat [electronic resource] : a life history perspective on proximate mechanisms of stress in Head Start children from two Puerto Rican communities.

9781109200188

2009

1 online resource (180 p.)

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Objective. To investigate associations between ecologically imposed extrinsic mortality risks and early stress, growth, and development in human life histories. Design. A community-based, one-year study on preschoolers and their families. Methods. Baseline salivary cortisol and testosterone were measured and averaged from morning samples provided at five collection times by 140 boys and girls ages three to five (n = 81 in a high extrinsic mortality community, HEM, and n = 59 in a low extrinsic mortality community, LEM) during an academic year (August 2006 through May 2007) in full-day Head Start. Additional analyses considered salivary samples after winning and losing a competition. Anthropometric and hand-grip measurements, family surveys, teacher-reported problem behaviors using the Social Skills Rating System subscale (Gresham and Elliott, 1990), and parenting beliefs using the Parental Modernity Scale (Schaefer and Edgarton, 1985) were completed. Data were analyzed with chi-square tests, Fisher's exact tests, t-tests, and linear regression to observe associations between age, sex, community, problem behaviors, paternal absence, parity, parental beliefs, and hormone levels. Results. The birth rate was significantly higher in the HEM. The death rate was higher in the LEM, but the difference was not significant. HEM fathers had less formal education, but the difference was not significant. LEM boys exhibited more externalizing behavior problems. HEM girls had the highest baseline levels of cortisol. Internalizing problem behaviors explained 7% of the variation in baseline cortisol. Externalizing problem behaviors explained 13% of the variation in baseline cortisol in HEM boys. Children exhibited a significant increase in cortisol after losing. LEM boys had higher baseline testosterone than HEM boys. Father absent boys had higher testosterone than boys who lived with their biological fathers, but the difference was not significant. Parity and maternal age explained 21% of the variation in baseline cortisol levels in the HEM and 26% in the LEM. The HEM had a higher proportion of parents with traditional beliefs about child rearing than LEM parents. However, the mean traditional rating was significantly higher in LEM parents. Traditional ratings explained 11% of the variation in girls' cortisol levels. A conclusion outlines future applications.

Books / Online / Dissertations & Theses

English

July 12, 2011

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Yale University, 2009.

Yale University.