Family Intervention in Early Childhood Can Help Children Cope with Stress
Enduring stressful life events in childhood can affect children long-term. Children who experience neglect can show increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Family interventions can reduce these levels, and a new study shows that the impact of these interventions can be lasting. The study, by Kristin Bernard and colleagues in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, included 115 children whose families had been referred to Child Protective Services after allegations of neglect. After an incident of neglect in early childhood, the families received either an experimental intervention called ABC (focused on increasing parental nurturance to child distress, increasing synchronous interactions, and decreasing frightening parental behavior) or a control intervention (which provided educational information about child development). When the children reached preschool age about three years later, the researchers collected the children’s cortisol levels at waking and bedtime on three different days.
The children whose families received the ABC intervention had more typical cortisol levels than those whose families had received the control intervention. The ABC children had higher morning cortisol, with a steeper decline throughout the day, compared to a more blunted cortisol rhythm in the control group children. These patterns resembled differences in the two groups observed three months after the initial intervention. The authors concluded that the ABC intervention has long-term effects on children’s physiological stress system, helping them maintain health and adjustment.
