Cited by 334Attachment and Relationship DynamicsChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentEarly Childhood Education and Development

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Transition to child care: associations with infant–mother attachment, infant negative emotion and cortisol elevations

Ahnert, Lieselotte, Gunnar, Megan R, Lamb, Michael E, Barthel, Martina·2004·Child Development

DOI 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00698.x

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Abstract

Seventy 15-month-old infants were studied at home before starting child care, during adaptation (mothers present) and separation (first 9 days without mothers) phases, and 5 months later. Security of infant–mother attachment was assessed before and 3 months after child care began. In the separation phase, salivary cortisol rose over the first 60 min following the mothers' departures to levels that were 75% to 100% higher than at home. Compared with insecure infants, secure infants had markedly lower cortisol levels during the adaptation phase and higher fuss and cry levels during the separation phase, and their fuss and cry levels were significantly correlated with their cortisol levels. Attachments remained secure or became secure if mothers spent more days adapting their children to child care.

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Doom, J. R., Hostinar, C. E., VanZomeren‐Dohm, A., & Gunnar, M. R. (2015) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.04.024 · Cited by 71
“…effect of the attachment figure’s presence on key stress mediating systems, such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system, has been demonstrated multiple times in infants and toddlers (Gunnar et al., 1996; Nachmias et al., 1996; Spangler and Schieche, 1998; Ahnert et al., 2004).”
BackgroundSelf-citation
Salivary Cortisol and Behavioral State Responses of Healthy Newborn Infants to Tactile-Only and Multisensory Interventions
White‐Traut, R. C., Schwertz, D. W., McFarlin, B. L., & Kogan, J. A. (2009) · Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing · doi:10.1111/j.1552-6909.2008.00307.x · Cited by 67
Bidirectional longitudinal relations between father–child relationships and Chinese children's social competence during early childhood
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Toddlers’ transition to out-of-home day care: Settling into a new care environment
Datler, W., Ereky‐Stevens, K., Hover-Reisner, N., & Malmberg, L. (2012) · Infant Behavior and Development · doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2012.02.007 · Cited by 64
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“In a study on transition to day care, 15-months-olds were investigated in relation to separation from the caretaker (Ahnert et al., 2004).”
Incorporating epigenetic mechanisms to advance fetal programming theories
Conradt, E., Adkins, D. E., Crowell, S. E., Raby, K. L., Diamond, L. M., & Ellis, B. (2018) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579418000469 · Cited by 60
Child care setting affects salivary cortisol and antibody secretion in young children
Watamura, S. E., Coe, C. L., Laudenslager, M. L., & Robertson, S. S. (2010) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.02.001 · Cited by 76
“…et al., 1999, 2000; Tout et al., 1998; Watamura et al., 2002, 2003, 2009; RappoltSclichtmann et al., 2009), France (Legendre, 2003), Germany (Ahnert et al., 2004), Australia (Sims et al., 2005, 2006), Sweden (Lundberg et al., 1993), and Korea (Park et al., 2007) have revealed many…”
Gender- and age-related differences in the association between social relationship quality and trait levels of salivary cortisol
Booth, A., Granger, D. A., & Shirtcliff, E. A. (2008) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2008.00559.x · Cited by 58
The social transmission of risk: Maternal stress physiology, synchronous parenting, and well-being mediate the effects of war exposure on child psychopathology.
Halevi, G., Djalovski, A., Kanat‐Maymon, Y., Yirmiya, K., Zagoory‐Sharon, O., Koren, L., & Feldman, R. (2017) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/abn0000307 · Cited by 62
A tale of two methods: Comparing regression and instrumental variables estimates of the effects of preschool child care type on the subsequent externalizing behavior of children in low-income families.
Crosby, D. A., Dowsett, C., Gennetian, L. A., & Huston, A. C. (2010) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0020384 · Cited by 57
Infant cortisol and behavioral habituation to weekly maternal separations: Links with maternal prenatal cortisol and psychosocial stress
de Weerth, C., Buitelaar, J. K., & Beijers, R. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.07.014 · Cited by 60
“Previous research has already shown that infants exhibit higher concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol on days when they are at centerbased childcare compared with days when they are at home (e.g. Ahnert et al., 2004; Watamura et al., 2010).”
The relation of personality types to physiological, behavioural, and cognitive processes
Hart, D. A., Burock, D., London, B. E., Atkins, R., & Bonilla‐Santiago, G. (2005) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.547 · Cited by 54
Examining Change in Cortisol Patterns During the 10-week Transition to a New Childcare Setting
Bernard, K., Peloso, E., Laurenceau, J., Zhang, Z., & Dozier, M. E. (2014) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.12304 · Cited by 49
“Elevated morning cortisol levels (collected after arrival) have been previously reported for infants during the transition to childcare (Ahnert et al., 2004).”
Background
Infant Attachment Insecurity and Baseline Physiological Activity and Physiological Reactivity to Interpersonal Stress: A Meta-Analytic Review
Groh, A. M., & Narayan, A. J. (2019) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/cdev.13205 · Cited by 54
Child care and cortisol across early childhood: Context matters.
Berry, D., Family Life Project Key Investigators, Blair, C., Ursache, A., Willoughby, M., Garrett-Peters, P., Vernon-Feagans, L., Bratsch-Hines, M., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & Granger, D. A. (2014) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0033379 · Cited by 50
New Child–Caregiver Attachment Relationships: Entering Childcare When the Caregiver Is and Is Not an Ethnic Match
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Cortisol: Circadian Rhythm and Response to a Stressor
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“Thus, adults who are secure on the AAI may have been the least likely to have experienced parenting and peer behaviors that cause increases in cortisol levels, and most likely to have had parents who regulated their child’s HPA activity when other stressors were encountered (Ahnert et al. 2004).”
Background
Relationship building between toddlers and new caregivers in out-of-home childcare: Attachment security and caregiver sensitivity
Ereky‐Stevens, K., Funder, A., Katschnig, T., Malmberg, L., & Datler, W. (2017) · Early Childhood Research Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2017.10.007 · Cited by 46
“…levels of behavioural distress increase (Ahnert, Gunnar, Lamb, & Barthel, 2004; Cryer et al., 2005), their levels of stress hormones (cortisol) rise (Ahnert et al., 2004), and their behaviour is inhibited (Datler, Ereky, & Strobel, 2001; Datler, Datler, & Funder, 2010; Datler, Ereky-Stevens,…”
Background
Neuroendocrine and behavioral response to social rupture and repair in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders interacting with mother and father
Ostfeld‐Etzion, S., Golan, O., Hirschler‐Guttenberg, Y., Zagoory‐Sharon, O., & Feldman, R. (2015) · Molecular Autism · doi:10.1186/s13229-015-0007-2 · Cited by 50
“Cortisol, the end product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, increases in response to social stress [28-30] in both mammals [31,32] and humans [33,34].”
Background
The role of HPA-axis function during pregnancy in the intergenerational transmission of maternal adverse childhood experiences to child behavior problems
Thomas, J. C., Letourneau, N. L., Dewey, D., Campbell, T. S., Giesbrecht, G. F., & the APrON Study Team (2020) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579419001767 · Cited by 50
“…quality and when insecure attachment is evident, children may develop behavioral strategies that reduce the need for the attachment figure to intervene, for example reduced fussing and crying (Cassidy, 1994; Sroufe, 2000), while still mounting a cortisol response to stress (Ahnert et al., 2004).”
Background
Attachment Security and Immunity in Healthy Women
Picardi, A., Battisti, F., Tarsitani, L., Baldassari, M., Copertaro, A., Mocchegiani, E., & Biondi, M. (2007) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0b013e31802dd777 · Cited by 43
“Also, studies in infants (21,22) and adults (23) suggested a link between attachment insecurity and altered autonomic and endocrine reactivity to stress.”
Background
Attachment and emotion regulation in middle childhood: changes in affect and vagal tone during a social stress task
Abtahi, M. M., & Kerns, K. A. (2017) · Attachment & Human Development · doi:10.1080/14616734.2017.1291696 · Cited by 55
The Politics of Attachment: Lines of Flight with Bowlby, Deleuze and Guattari
Duschinsky, R., Greco, M., & Solomon, J. (2015) · Theory Culture & Society · doi:10.1177/0263276415605577 · Cited by 42
Diurnal cortisol secretion at home and in child care: a prospective study of 2‐year‐old toddlers
Ouellet‐Morin, I., Tremblay, R. E., Boivin, M., Meaney, M. J., Kramer, M. S., & Côté, S. M. (2009) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02167.x · Cited by 42
A Twin Study of Attachment Style in Young Adults
Picardi, A., Fagnani, C., Nisticò, L., & Stazi, M. A. (2010) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00707.x · Cited by 42
Testing the function of attachment hierarchies during emerging adulthood
Pitman, R., & Scharfe, E. (2010) · Personal Relationships · doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2010.01272.x · Cited by 39
Trouble déficit de l’attention/hyperactivité (TDAH) : quels liens avec l’attachement ?
Franc, N., Maury, M., & Purper‐Ouakil, D. (2008) · L Encéphale · doi:10.1016/j.encep.2008.04.007 · Cited by 41
Family Relationships and Children's Stress Responses
Lucas‐Thompson, R. G., & Goldberg, W. A. (2011) · Advances in child development and behavior · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-386491-8.00007-4 · Cited by 40
Biological embedding of perinatal social relationships in infant stress reactivity
Thomas, J. C., Letourneau, N., Bryce, C. I., Campbell, T. S., Giesbrecht, G. F., & The APrON Study Team (2017) · Developmental Psychobiology · doi:10.1002/dev.21505 · Cited by 38
Does child-mother attachment predict and mediate language and cognitive outcomes? A series of meta-analyses
Deneault, A., Duschinsky, R., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Roisman, G. I., Ly, A., Fearon, P. R. M., & Madigan, S. L. (2023) · Developmental Review · doi:10.1016/j.dr.2023.101093 · Cited by 38
Attachment and Developmental Psychopathology
Fearon, P. R. M., Groh, A. M., Bakermans‐Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Roisman, G. I. (2016) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119125556.devpsy108 · Cited by 40
Wartime Deployment and Military Children: Applying Prevention Science to Enhance Family Resilience
Lester, P. E., Leskin, G. A., Woodward, K. R., Saltzman, W. R., Nash, W. P., Mogil, C., Paley, B., & Beardslee, W. R. (2010) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-7064-0_8 · Cited by 36
The Relations Between Bullying Exposures in Middle Childhood, Anxiety, and Adrenocortical Activity
Carney, J. V., Hazler, R. J., Oh, I., Hibel, L. C., & Granger, D. A. (2010) · Journal of School Violence · doi:10.1080/15388220903479602 · Cited by 39
“The majority of studies linking individual differences in the quality of children's social relationships and activity of the HPA axis have focused on the development of early attachment between infants and caregivers ( Ahnert, Gunnar, Lamb, & Barthel, 2004 ), or later in development on parent-child relations ( Granger…”
Background
Attachment and Emotion Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Neurobiological, Neuroendocrine, and Neurocognitive Considerations
Sivaratnam, C. S., Newman, L. K., Tonge, B. J., & Rinehart, N. (2015) · Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s40489-015-0048-7 · Cited by 39
“Specifically, the lower levels of attachment security and parental sensitivity have been linked to elevated cortisol levels in response to stressors (Bugental et al. 2003; Gunnar et al. 1992; Ahnert et al. 2004; Dozier et al. 2008).”
Background

Authors: Ahnert, L., Gunnar, M. R., Lamb, M. E., & Barthel, M.
Affiliations: Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
University of Minnesota (US)
National Institutes of Health (US)
ORCID: Ahnert, Lieselotte
Gunnar, Megan R
Lamb, Michael E
Venue: Child Development
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published: 2004-05-01
Volume: 75
Issue: 3
Pages: 639-650
ISSN: 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
1467-8624
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00698.x
OpenAlex: W2136352610
Cited by: 334
References: 77
Citations by year: 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 21
FWCI: 11.10
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: academic.oup.com/pages/standard-publication-reuse-rights (vor)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 9 d)
Locations: Child Development (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
Keywords: infant-mother attachment, attachment security, cortisol, maternal separation, salivary cortisol
MeSH terms: Adaptation, Psychological, Affect, Child, Child Care, Crying, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Infant, Mother-Child Relations, Object Attachment, Saliva

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Transition to child care: associations with infant–mother attachment, infant negative emotion and cortisol elevations

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