The DOI matches its Crossref record; 79 of the 79 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Transition to child care: associations with infant–mother attachment, infant negative emotion and cortisol elevations
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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“Secure attachment to parents buffers HPA activation (Ahnert et al., 2004; Nachmias et al., 1996)”
From The Adaptive Calibration Model of stress responsivity (2011) · cites this paper as Ahnert et al., 2004
In the citing paper
“Even if avoidant infants do not react with HPA activation to brief separations (section 4.1), they can still mount intense HPA responses to family conflict, punishment, or even longer separation episodes (as found by Ahnert et al., 2004)”
From The Adaptive Calibration Model of stress responsivity (2011) · cites this paper as Ahnert et al., 2004
Citations
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Items 301–333 of 333
Zepf, S., & Seel, D. (2018) · International Forum of Psychoanalysis · doi:10.1080/0803706x.2018.1527471
“That this is the case is shown by the increase in cortisol level and reversal of cortisol pattern that Ahnert et al. (2004) found in 15-month-old children, Dettling et al. (2000) and Vermeer and van Ijzendoorn (2006) found in children up to 36 months, andWatamura et al. (2003) reported in children…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialJames, O. (2018) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780429475108-3
Kindsvatter, A., Russotti, J. M., & Tansey, M. (2019) · The Family Journal · doi:10.1177/1066480719834874
What Happened to the Nanny? Parental Reflections on Secondary Caregiver Loss
Prout, T. A., & Cohen, T. (2020) · Journal of Infant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy · doi:10.1080/15289168.2020.1803667
“There is evidence that the method of transitioning children to non-parental care and helping them cope with changes in care can ameliorate attachment disruption (Ahnert et al., 2004; Boss, 2007); however, few studies have examined the ways parents and children deal with the departure of non-parental caregivers.”
MethodHwang, Y.-S. (2021) · Korean Journal of Child Studies · doi:10.5723/kjcs.2021.42.2.233
Bonnett, T. H., McCorquodale, L., & Schouten, K. R. (2021) · Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/jcop.22669
Quality of naps in infants across home and early childhood education centre settings
Stuart, S. E. (2011) · UC Research Repository (University of Canterbury) · doi:10.26021/9336
McNab, N. J. (2012) · University of Canterbury Research Repository (University of Canterbury) · doi:10.26021/9345
“Children with disorganised attachments display characteristics of both anxious and avoidant attachments; such patterns are often associated with child abuse, neglect, or parental absence (Carr, 2006).”
BackgroundInfluentialLane, H. M. (2012) · Digital Commons - East Tennessee State University (East Tennessee State University)
Werth, L., Seibt, B., & Mayer, J. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-53899-9_1
Effects of Attachment Quality and Organization
Forslund, T., & Granqvist, P. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_1964
(2019) · Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht eBooks · doi:10.13109/9783666702501.254
Gloger-Tippelt, G. (2016) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-531-20002-6_33-1
Swartz, R. A., Speirs, K. E., Encinger, A. J., & McElwain, N. L. (2019) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781351243810-2
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Rivera, M. D. C. M. C. T., Espinoza, M., & Cerić, F. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-31709-5_28
de Vet, S. M., Vrijhof, C. I., van der Veek, S., van Bakel, H. J. A., & Vermeer, H. J. (2023) · doi:10.31219/osf.io/mp7y5
สตในการเลยงดบตรของพอแมทฝกสตปฏฐาน : ทฤษฎฐานราก
แซ่เจ็ง, พ., & เต้พันธ์, ณ. (2018) · doi:10.58837/chula.the.2018.751
Kinderbetreuung als prägender Entwicklungsfaktor für die kindliche Psyche
Ziegenhain, U., Hermeling, L., & Steiner, M. (2020) · Springer Reference Medizin · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-49289-5_43-1
Bernier, A., Côté, S. M., Leclerc, G., Matte‐Gagné, C., & Marquis‐Brideau, C. (2024) · Attachment & Human Development · doi:10.1080/14616734.2024.2344521
“Approaching the issue from a different angle, two studies conducted in Germany (Ahnert et al., 2004) and in Chile (Cárcamo et al., 2016) assessed mother–child attachment before and after entry into childcare.”
BackgroundResultKinderbetreuung als prägender Entwicklungsfaktor für die kindliche Psyche
Ziegenhain, U., Hermeling, L., & Steiner, M. (2024) · Springer Reference Medizin · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-66744-6_43
Hofstee, M., Fukkink, R. G., Endendijk, J. J., Huijding, J., van der Velde, B., & Deković, M. (2024) · International Journal of Behavioral Development · doi:10.1177/01650254241287222
“For example, higher levels of parental support can help to regulate the stress levels of young children in challenging situations, such as during separation from the primary caregiver in center-based childcare (Ahnert et al., 2004; Loman & Gunnar, 2010).”
Rivera, M. D. C. M. C. T., Espinoza, M., & Cerić, F. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-58979-9_28
Mellenius, N., Korja, R., Puolakka, S., Tervahartiala, K., Lahtela, H., Salo, S., Kalland, M., Laakkonen, E., & Junttila, N. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5153090
Pasidi, E., & van den Akker, A. L. (2025) · Child & Youth Care Forum · doi:10.1007/s10566-025-09913-0
“The separation from the primary attachment figure (Ahnert et al., 2004), the tiredness after a full day in childcare (Bani Salameh et al., 2021), and the stressful interactions among peers in the group setting (Vermeer & van IJzen-doorn, 2006 ) can all act as stressors for toddlers and preschoolers.”
Martins, R. C., Blumenberg, C., Tovo-Rodrigues, L., Gonzalez, A., & Murray, J. (2020) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.12660932
Why are the youngest in class more often prescribed pharmacological treatment for ADHD?
Nicodemo, C., Nicoletti, C., & Vidiella-Martin, J. (2026) · Journal of Population Economics · doi:10.1007/s00148-026-01190-y
“…into structured group settings can be more demanding for younger or less mature children, suggesting that adjustment challenges or stress at entry could temporarily affect observed behavior (Rimm-Kaufman and Pianta 2000; Dettling et al. 1999; Ahnert et al. 2004; Gunnar and Quevedo 2007).”
Corpuz, R., & Shah, A. (2026) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2026.108058
Foreldreperspektiver på barnehagekvalitet i forbindelse med tidlig barnehagestart
Brønseth, J. (2013) · NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives
Metadata
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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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