Stress and child inflammation: the role of caregiving

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Department of Clinical and Social Psychology, 2017.Research in adults indicates a pathway from socio-demographic early risk and adversity and later disease. One hypothesized pathway is through inflammatory processes. This relationship is not well-understood from a developmental perspective and this study sought to explore these pathways as well as the parent-child relationship as a potential mediator. Using data as part of a larger study, the current study used a longitudinal design collecting self-report, observational, and biological data at 4 visits over 2 years. A multilevel model approach was used to portray the changes in the data over time. The results characterize child IL-6 levels within visits as well as the change and stability over time. Second, this work indicated that the pathways from socio-demographic stress are largely confounded by body mass index. Finally, a small but consistent link was found between parent negative behavior and child IL-6. This is significant and merits further investigation; the finding that negative interactions with one’s caregiver may be associated with an inflammatory response is relevant for both general and mental health care providers