Parental caring and loss during childhood and adult cortisol responses to stress
Abstract
This study was designed to test the hypothesis that the impact of early parental loss on adult physiological responses to stress is moderated by the level of perceived caring from the surviving parent. University students who lost a parent during childhood were compared to students raised by both biological parents. Salivary Cortisol samples were collected immediately before and at 5 and 20 minutes following a stressful speech task. Perceptions of parental caring (Care) during childhood were measured using the Parental Bonding Instrument. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant (p = .01) three-way interaction of Loss by Care by Period (baseline, task, recovery) such that participants who lost a parent and perceived low parental caring showed higher Cortisol levels following stress relative to other participants. These findings indicate that childhood loss of a parent is associated with long-term neurohormonal consequences only if the quality of the bond with the surviving parent is poor.
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Nurturing caregiving is a particularly powerful protective factor mitigating ELA associations with physiological parameters, including elevated allostatic load, inflammation, cortisol reactivity, and cellular aging.
“Of note, substantial literature suggests that nurturing caregiving is a particularly powerful protective factor mitigating ELA associations with physiological parameters, including elevated allostatic load [92, 93], inflammation [94], cortisol reactivity [95], and cellular aging [96].”
From Biological embedding of childhood adversity: from physiological mechanisms to clinical implications (2017) · cites this paper as [95]
Variations in parental care associate with individual differences in neuroendocrine and autonomic responses to stress in humans and with emotional reactivity.
“Likewise, variations in parental care associate with individual differences in neuroendocrine and autonomic responses to stress in humans as well as emotional reactivity.18,33-36”
From Early life adversity and the epigenetic programming of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function (2014) · cites this paper as [34]
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References 42 · Cited by 71
- Authors
- Luecken, L. J.
- Affiliations
- Duke Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Luecken, Linda J.
- ORCID
- Luecken, Linda J.
- Venue
- Psychology & Health
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2000-11
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 841-851
- ISSN
- 0887-0446 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-8321
- OpenAlex
- W2090935248
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 6 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 0.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychology and Health (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Keywords
- parental loss, grief in children, perceived parental care, cortisol, stress response, salivary cortisol, Parental Bonding Instrument, moderating effect
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