The Association Between Parent and Child Self-Reported Stress and Child Hair Cortisol in Internationally-Adopted and Comparison Youth

Biological embedding occurs when children’s physiology is shaped by caregiving context, but how such embedding occurs is still being explored. The hypothalamic-adrenal-axis (HPA) and its end product, cortisol, is a target for biological embedding. Here, we explore whether parents’ stressful experiences are reflected in their child’s HPA function, and whether this is dependent on shared genetics and/or shared experience. As part of an ongoing study, 67 youth (54% female, M age=14.9 years) and a parent completed the Stress and Adversity Inventory (STRAIN), which indexed physical and mental health symptoms, count of stressful events, and severity of stressful events for parent and child. Youth provided a 3cm hair sample for cortisol determination (HCC). 32 youth (21 female) were adopted from institutional care before age 5. Parent STRAIN is unrelated to child: sex, group, or age; Parent and Child STRAIN are uncorrelated. Child STRAIN is related to age, sex, group such that older, female, and adopted youth show higher STRAIN; it does not predict Child HCC. Parent STRAIN is reflected in Child HCC: a regression predicting HCC from adoption status, parent STRAIN, and their interaction is significant, R²=.13, p=