ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理学报 ›› 2014, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (4): 516-527.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2014.00516

• 论文 • 上一篇    下一篇

新入园幼儿的皮质醇变化与上呼吸道感染的关系:气质的作用

贺琼;王争艳;王莉;蒋彩虹;上官芳芳   

  1. (1首都师范大学教育学院心理学系, 学习与认知重点实验室, 北京 100048) (2北京大学心理学系, 北京 100871) (3中国科学院心理研究所, 北京 100101)
  • 收稿日期:2013-03-26 发布日期:2014-04-25 出版日期:2014-04-25
  • 通讯作者: 王争艳
  • 基金资助:

    北京市哲学社会科学规划项目(11JYB009)和国家自然科学基金(31271103)资助。

Saliva Cortisol and Upper Respiratory Tract Infection in Young Children Experiencing Kindergarten Transition: The Effect of Temperament

HE Qiong;WANG Zhengyan;WANG Li;JIANG Caihong;SHANGGUAN Fangfang   

  1. (1 Department of Psychology, Learning and Cognitive Key lab, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China) (2Department of Psycholog, Peking University, Beijing, China 100871) (3 Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)
  • Received:2013-03-26 Online:2014-04-25 Published:2014-04-25
  • Contact: WANG Zhengyan

摘要:

采用酶联免疫吸附法分析唾液皮质醇和日志记录上呼吸道感染(upper respiratory tract infection; URI)的方法, 考察新入园的59名幼儿皮质醇变化与两个月期间患URI次数、持续时间的关系, 同时检测了幼儿气质在其中的作用。结果发现, 新入园幼儿在国庆小长假后的第一周内, 其皮质醇变化的整体趋势表现为下午的皮质醇水平比上午的皮质醇水平高; 上、下午皮质醇水平的变化幅度与其患URI次数显著负相关, 注意分散度与患URI次数呈显著正相关, 幼儿的自我控制能力与其患URI的平均持续时间显著负相关; 趋避性能够调节上、下午皮质醇水平变化幅度与URI的平均持续时间的关系。研究表明, 幼儿面对新入园这一急性压力事件时, 皮质醇水平的暂时性升高对免疫系统产生了一定的刺激作用来抵抗URI。幼儿气质的认知、情绪的或注意的不同过程与URI以及对皮质醇变化水平与URI关系的作用机制有所不同。

关键词: 幼儿, 唾液皮质醇, 气质, 上呼吸道感染

Abstract:

The effects of psychosocial factors, in particular, stress on human health have been widely examined; and results showed that stress levels could account for a number of different acute and chronic health problems. Unfortunately, to date, most studies primarily focused on adults rather than children. The possible reason might be that the measurement of stress level in children is much more difficult than that of adults. Relatively few studies have confirmed that the susceptibility to or resistance against diseases of young children is related to their psychological stress. Moreover, the sources of stress include not only the characteristics of external stimulation, but also the individual innate characteristics (such as temperament). However, little research has examined the role of children’s temperament on the relationship between stress level and diurnal and disease. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between salivary cortisol level (a physical index of stress level) of young children experiencing kindergarten transition and the occurrence of upper respiratory tract infection (URI) during their first 2 months in kindergarten and then further examined the moderating role of temperament on this relationship. Fifty-nine mother-child dyads were (mean age = 36.8months, 34 females) recruited from a kindergarten in Bejing. In the kindergarten, saliva samples were respectively taken from the children in the morning and afternoon and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of salivary cortisol was done. Children’s primary caregiver was asked to complete a Temperament Questionnaire. Symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection (URI) were recorded in diary form, and variables relating to URI occurrence and duration owere assessed. In addition, three tasks were performed to measure children's temperamental self-control. The data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. The results showed: (1) Cortisol levels in the afternoon were significantly higher than those in the morning for all children. (2) Children with higher afternoon cortisol experienced significantly fewer episodes of URI in the following 2 months and diurnal cortisol change was negatively correlated with the number of URI during the 2 months. (3) Distractibility was positively correlated with the number of URI. (4) Temperamental self-control was negatively correlated with the duration of URI. (5) Approach-withdrawal plays a moderating role in the relationship between diurnal change in cortisol and URI duration, indicating the greatest resistance to URI infection in children who approach to the novel stressor of transitioning to kindergarten and who have a smaller diurnal change in cortisol from morning to afternoon. Taken together, the present findings suggested that increased cortisol is a natural response to the stress of young children experiencing kindergarten transition, and may prime the immune system to protect the children from URI at this critical stage of development. Also, expanding on the previous research, the present study explored the interaction between alivary cortisol level and temperament on the upper respiratory tract infection (URI) and findings have some important implications for interventions.

Key words: children, saliva cortisol, temperament, respiratory tract infection