Effects of stress on cortisol in preterm infants.
Item
-
Title
-
Effects of stress on cortisol in preterm infants.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9130346
-
identifier
-
9130346
-
Creator
-
Lutkus, Catherine Ann.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Gerald Turkewitz
-
Date
-
1991
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Psychology, Developmental | Psychology, Psychobiology | Psychology, Physiological
-
Abstract
-
Although exposure to stress has been shown to affect cortisol regulation in adults and animals, the ability of the premature infant to maintain adaptive cortisol regulation after exposure to such stress on the NICU has not been studied. To assess effects on cortisol, salivary cortisol levels were measured in relatively healthy NICU premature infants (n = 38). Cortisol levels were measured under three conditions: Basal--120 minutes after no disrupting event or behavioral distress; Stressor--30 minutes after a heel prick procedure; Neurobehavioral (NB)--30 minutes after a NB examination. Basal and stressor samples were collected weekly during the hospital stay and NB samples were collected once at discharge. In addition, as cortisol regulation could also affect the infants' attention regulation, infants were tested in a visual preference paradigm at discharge under three conditions: Less Aroused, Internally Aroused and Externally Aroused.;During the infants' stay, mean basal and stressor cortisol levels were found to decline to those tentatively reported in healthy full-term infants. In addition, the mean NB cortisol levels were found to be between mean basal and stressor cortisol levels at discharge with all conditions significantly different from each other. In the looking preference paradigm, looking preferences were significantly different as a function of arousal condition. The looking preferences in the internally and externally aroused conditions were correlated with basal cortisol levels. They were also correlated with stressor cortisol levels in the externally aroused condition. To the generalizability of the findings, an additional group of cocaine-exposed premature infants (n = 11) were tested. They too were found to have significantly lower mean NB and stressor cortisol levels as well as a difference in visual preferences in the internally and externally aroused conditions.;Overall, the data suggest that healthy premature infants are able to maintain adaptive cortisol regulation despite exposure to stress on an NICU. In addition, a relationship between cortisol and attentional regulation was established which could help understand other groups of infants.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
