Examining Change in Cortisol Patterns During the 10-week Transition to a New Child-care Setting
Overview
Affiliations
The transition to out-of-home child care brings a number of challenges for children, including complex peer interactions and extended separations from parents. Children often show a midmorning to afternoon rise in cortisol on child-care days, compared to the typical diurnal decline seen at home. Changes in cortisol were examined in a wide age range of children (N = 168; 1.2 months to 8 years, M = 3.27 years) during the 10-week transition to a new child-care setting. Structural equation modeling using latent change scores showed that children experienced an increase in the cortisol rise at child care across the 10-week transition. Furthermore, child age moderated the difference between home- and child-care cortisol patterns. Findings are placed in a developmental context, and potential implications and future directions are discussed.
Entry Into Boarding Preschool Is Associated With Increased Stress and School Refusal.
Xiao N, Zhang X, Chan C Stress Health. 2025; 41(2):e70022.
PMID: 40042182 PMC: 11881546. DOI: 10.1002/smi.70022.
Drugli M, Nystad K, Lydersen S, Brenne A Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1165788.
PMID: 37333593 PMC: 10272817. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1165788.
Transition to Preschool: Paving the Way for Preschool Teacher and Family Relationship-Building.
Andersson Soe M, Schad E, Psouni E Child Youth Care Forum. 2023; :1-23.
PMID: 36743784 PMC: 9886536. DOI: 10.1007/s10566-023-09735-y.
de Vet S, Vrijhof C, van der Veek S, Pieplenbosch J, van Bakel H, Vermeer H Front Psychol. 2021; 12:718898.
PMID: 34803802 PMC: 8603750. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718898.
Kessel E, Frost A, Goldstein B, Black S, Dougherty L, Carlson G Psychol Med. 2019; 51(5):761-769.
PMID: 31858921 PMC: 8906367. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291719003684.