Maternal attachment avoidance is linked to youth diurnal cortisol slopes in children with asthma

ABSTRACT

Prior evidence suggests that an individual’s attachment orientation is linked to the health and health-related biology of his/her romantic relationship partners. The current study examined whether this effect extends to parent–child relationships. Specifically, we investigated the association between maternal attachment anxiety and avoidance and diurnal cortisol of offspring. In a sample of 138 youth with asthma and their primary caregivers, caregivers reported their attachment orientations, and their children (aged 10–17) supplied four saliva samples per day over four days to assess diurnal cortisol patterns. Growth curve analyses revealed no links to caregiver attachment anxiety, but caregiver attachment avoidance was significantly associated with children’s diurnal cortisol slopes, such that greater attachment avoidance predicted flatter diurnal cortisol slopes. Maternal warmth did not mediate this link. These results support the possibility that an individual’s adult attachment orientation may “get under the skin” of family members to influence their health-related biology. Future research should seek to determine the causal direction of this association and mechanisms of this effect.

KEYWORDS:

• Adult attachment avoidance
• adult attachment anxiety
• cortisol
• maternal warmth
• asthma severity

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01HL114097) and a Wayne State University Junior Faculty Grant in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. We thank all the research assistants in the Close Relationships Lab for their help with data collection.