Date of Award

Summer 8-24-2004

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

First Advisor

Sarah E. Watamura

Second Advisor

Phillip B. Danielson

Third Advisor

Julia Dmitrieva

Fourth Advisor

Jenalee R. Doom

Fifth Advisor

Erika M. Manczak

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, Sympathetic nervous system (SNS), Multisystem physiologic coordination, Salivary analytes, Cortisol, Alpha amylase

Abstract

This dissertation presents a set of two studies that investigate linkages between the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis and Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) in response to a stressor paradigm among young children experiencing low-income. Contextual/child factors that shape multisystem physiologic coordination were also examined. A novel application of structural equation modeling was used to model sample-by-sample linkages between salivary analytes that indexed HPA axis and SNS functioning (respectively, salivary cortisol and salivary alpha amylase [sAA]). The preschoolers in Study 1 showed linkages between salivary cortisol and sAA across a novel research visit at their childcare center that included a stressor paradigm. Child body-mass index percentile moderated the pattern of multisystem physiologic coordination, such that preschoolers with overweight/obesity (at or above the 85th percentile) showed few multisystem linkages compared to preschoolers with under/normal weight (below 85th percentile). Infants and toddlers in Study 2 showed some linkages between salivary cortisol and sAA across a home visit that included a stressor paradigm conducted in the presence of their primary caregiver. Observer-rated behavioral parenting sensitivity moderated multisystem physiologic coordination, such that infants and toddlers who experienced lower parenting sensitivity showed more linkages between salivary cortisol and sAA compared to those who experienced high parenting sensitivity. These two studies suggest that structural equation modeling may be a helpful statistical tool to analyze dynamic processes between two biological stress systems. The findings across studies present initial evidence that young children show some degree of coordination between the HPA axis and SNS in response to stressors, and that contextual/child factors can shape the pattern of multisystem physiologic coordination that emerges.

Copyright Date

8-2024

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Tiffany Phu

Provenance

Received from Author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

100 pgs

File Size

2.2 MB

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Available for download on Sunday, September 27, 2026



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