Few studies have longitudinally assessed the relationship between infant stress reactivity and future parenting style. Studies show that stress-induced plasma cortisol concentrations are stable over development and that they can be utilized as a marker for stress reactivity. This study investigates the relationship between stress-induced plasma cortisol concentrations in infancy and later parenting behavior in a translational nonhuman primate model. We hypothesized that higher stress-induced cortisol levels in infancy would predict impairments in maternal behaviors in adulthood. Subjects were rhesus macaque females (N = 122; Macaca mulatta), assessed as infants and again as mothers. At 3–4 months of age, subjects underwent a standardized BioBehavioral Assessment during which blood samples were obtained and they were assessed for behaviorally inhibition. Approximately 7 years later, subjects were observed as they interacted with their own offspring for four 300-s sessions. Typical rhesus monkey mother-offspring behaviors were recorded, including approaches and leaves and maternal cradling. Results showed that subjects' stress-induced cortisol concentrations and whether they exhibited behavioral inhibition as infants predicted later maternal behavior, with high cortisol concentrations and behavioral inhibition predicting high rates of offspring approaches and leaves and low rates of maternal cradling. Results also showed that higher stress-induced cortisol concentrations in infancy predicted higher scores on the Brown Index, an indication that the subjects' offspring, rather than the subject themselves, initiated changes in proximity. Taken together, these results suggest that individuals that exhibit higher stress-induced cortisol concentrations and behavioral inhibition at 3–4 months of age are at risk for engaging in less sensitive parenting behaviors as adults. To the extent that these findings generalize to humans, they suggest an important link between stress-induced cortisol concentrations and behavioral inhibition in infancy and behavior later in life, such that early-life stress reactivity can serve as a marker for later parenting behavior.

中文翻译：

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婴儿期压力引起的血浆皮质醇浓度与雌性恒河猴（Macaca mulatta）后期的养育行为有关


很少有研究纵向评估婴儿应激反应与未来养育方式之间的关系。研究表明，应激引起的血浆皮质醇浓度在发育过程中是稳定的，并且它们可以用作应激反应性的标记。本研究在转化非人类灵长类动物模型中研究了婴儿期应激诱导的血浆皮质醇浓度与后来的养育行为之间的关系。我们假设婴儿期压力引起的皮质醇水平较高可以预测成年期母亲行为的损害。受试者是雌性恒河猴（ N = 122；猕猴），在婴儿期和母亲期进行评估。在 3-4 个月大时，受试者接受了标准化的生物行为评估，在此期间采集了血液样本并评估了他们的行为抑制情况。大约 7 年后，研究人员观察了受试者与自己的后代进行的四次 300 秒的互动。记录了典型的恒河猴母子行为，包括接近和离开以及母亲的摇篮。结果显示，受试者的压力诱导的皮质醇浓度以及他们在婴儿时是否表现出行为抑制预测了后来的母亲行为，高皮质醇浓度和行为抑制预示着后代接近和离开的比率较高，而母亲抱抱的比率较低。结果还表明，婴儿期压力引起的皮质醇浓度较高，预示着布朗指数得分较高，这表明是受试者的后代，而不是受试者本身，引发了邻近度的变化。 总而言之，这些结果表明，在 3-4 个月大时表现出较高的压力诱导皮质醇浓度和行为抑制的个体，成年后有可能出现不太敏感的养育行为。这些发现在某种程度上适用于人类，表明压力引起的皮质醇浓度与婴儿期的行为抑制和晚年的行为之间存在重要联系，因此早期的压力反应可以作为以后养育行为的标志。