Longitudinal associations between attachment quality in infancy, C-reactive protein in early childhood, and BMI in middle childhood: preliminary evidence from a CPS-referred sample

ABSTRACT

In the current pilot study, we examined whether insecure or disorganized attachment was associated with elevated inflammation (i.e. C-reactive protein [CRP]) in children with histories of child protective services (CPS) involvement, and whether early childhood CRP predicted body mass index (BMI) in middle childhood. Participants included 45 CPS-referred children and 39 low-risk comparison children, for whom we assessed levels of CRP in early childhood (Mean age = 4.9 years). For the CPS-referred children, who were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study, we had attachment classifications (assessed during infancy with the Strange Situation) and BMI data (assessed during early and middle childhood); these data were not available for the low-risk comparison group. CPS-referred children who had insecure or disorganized attachments during infancy had higher levels of CRP in early childhood than CPS-referred children who had secure attachments, who had similar levels of CRP to low-risk comparison children. Among CPS-referred children, early childhood CRP predicted age 8 BMI, controlling for BMI at age 4. Findings offer preliminary support for the association between attachment quality and inflammation in early childhood, which may have implications for later physical health.

KEYWORDS:

• Insecure attachment
• maltreatment
• c-reactive protein
• body mass index
• inflammation

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by funding to M. Dozier from the National Institute of Mental Health grants: R01MH052135, R01MH074374, and R01MH084135, seed grant funding to K. Bernard and C. Hostinar from the National Institute of Mental Health grant P50MH07810 [Early Experience, Stress, and Neurobehavioral Development Center, PI: Dr. Megan Gunnar], and grant 1327768 from the National Science Foundation to C. Hostinar. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institutes of Health, or the National Science Foundation.