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If the coping fits, use it: Preadolescent recent stress exposure differentially predicts post‐TSST salivary cortisol recovery
Author(s) -
Bendezú Jason J.,
Wadsworth Martha E.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.21542
Subject(s) - trier social stress test , stressor , coping (psychology) , psychology , distraction , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , multilevel model , fight or flight response , biochemistry , chemistry , machine learning , computer science , gene , neuroscience
This study examined recent stress exposure and effortful coping effects on salivary cortisol (sC) response patterns in preadolescent boys and girls ( N = 121, M age = 10.60 years). Children were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and one of two randomly assigned, post‐TSST coping conditions: distraction and avoidance. Piecewise growth multilevel modeling did not link children's recent stressful life events or hair cortisol (hC) levels to sC reactivity, though each interacted with coping condition to predict sC recovery patterns. Children with elevated life stressor and hC levels demonstrated protracted sC recovery when primed with distraction, yet more efficient sC recovery when primed with avoidance. Findings challenge assumptions about universally “good” and “bad” coping by highlighting contexts where each succeed and fail in helping children manage acute stress physiology.