Stress through the mind of the beholder: preliminary differences in child and maternal perceptions of child stress in relation to child cortisol and cardiovascular activity

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of cortisol and cardiovascular measures and correlations between cardiovascular and cortisol measures.

			Correlations
	Range	Means (SD)	Baseline cortisol	Peak cortisol	Cortisol difference
Baseline
Cortisol	0.03–0.26	0.10 (0.04)	–	.61***	.37**
Heart rate	61.10–89.21	77.78 (6.03)	.25	.36**	.33*
Blood pressure	57.95–96.09	77.10 (10.29)	−.04	−.03	−.01
Systolic	85.12–127.19	103.52 (9.56)	.18	.29*	.28*
Diastolic	48.36–69.31	59.83 (4.89)	.24	.32*	.29*
Peak
Cortisol	0.03–0.71	0.20 (0.16)	–	–	.96***
Heart rate	70.20–114.33	92.15 (9.28)	.30*	.45***	.42***
Blood pressure	64.00–115.75	89.17 (11.73)	−.08	.08	.13
Systolic	94.20–158.00	121.86 (14.17)	.30*	.42**	.39**
Diastolic	55.00–97.00	73.91 (8.81)	.28*	.39**	.36**
Reactivity
Cortisol	−0.03 to 0.58	0.09 (0.14)	–	–	–
Heart rate	5.02–31.31	14.37 (6.79)	.19	.29*	.28*
Blood pressure	−1.95 to 36.24	11.82 (7.69)	−.04	.14	.18
Systolic	3.15–45.85	18.34 (9.18)	.27	.34*	.31*
Diastolic	3.10–32.23	13.98 (6.20)	.22	.31*	.29*

* p < 05.

** p < .01.

*** p < .001.

Table 2. Stressful life events that were endorsed most frequently.

Stressors	Child-report (%)	Parent-report (%)
School difficulties	43.2	32.4
Increased arguments between parents	32.4	27.0
Change in peer acceptance	29.7	5.4
Increased arguments with parents	25.0	10.8
A pet died	24.3	21.6
A close friend moved away	24.3	13.5
Mother began work	24.3	16.2
Moved to a new school district	21.6	24.3
A sibling moved away	18.9	13.5
Downward change in family finances	18.9	24.3
Parent lost job	13.5	13.5
Parent had serious illness	10.5	8.1

N = 37 participants (age 11+), and their parents who each completed the Coddington Scale of Life Events.

Table 3. Descriptives and correlations of child-reported and parent-reported stressful life events, perceived stressor, and child-reported symptoms.

	Range	Means (SD)	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. Child SLE	0–11	3.13 (2.41)	–
2. Child PSS	7–40	21.20 (6.03)	.44**	–
3. Parent SLE	0–7	2.55 (1.76)	.21	−.06	–
4. Parent PSS	4–42	21.02 (9.08)	−.02	−.19	.35*	–
5. Depression	0–6	1.18 (1.34)	.09	.05	.15	.36**	–
6. Anxiety	0–21	6.98 (4.80)	.40*	.35*	.11	.18	.47***	–

SLE: Coddington Life Events Scale-Child; PSS: Perceived Stress Scale; child-reported SLEs and PSS were completed for ages 11 and older.

* p < .05.

** p < .01.

*** p < .001.

Table 4. Pearson correlations between life events, perceived stress, and biological measures.

	Cortisol			Heart rate			Blood pressure			SBP			DBP
	Baseline	Peak	Change	Baseline	Peak	Change	Baseline	Peak	Change	Baseline	Peak	Change	Baseline	Peak	Change
Child SLE	−.10	−.28	−.31	−.32*	−.21	−.01	−.01	−.13	−.16	−.04	−.04	−.06	−.46**	−.31	−.08
Child PSS	−.32*	−.44**	−.42**	−.30	−.33*	−.20	.00	−.13	−.17	−.18	−.24	−.19	−.32*	−.29	−.17
Parent SLE	−.07	−.10	. −10	−.20	−.14	−.23	−.23	.09	−.14	−.07	−.16	−.19	−.21	−.16	−.07
Parent PSS	−.02	.22	.27	−.13	.21	.41**	.17	.26	.14	−.08	.09	.21	−.01	.21	.30

SLE: Coddington Life Events Scale-Child; PSS: Perceived Stress Scale; child-reported SLEs and PSS were completed for ages 11 and older (N = 41).

* p < .05.

** p < .01.

Figure 1. Perceived stress in relation to peak cortisol.

Table 5. Hierarchical regression of child-perceived stress in relation to cortisol.

	Baseline β (SE)	Peak β (SE)	Change β (SE)
Step 1	R^2 = .17	R^2 = .14	R^2 = .10
Gender	−.19 (.02)	−.27 (.05)	−.26 (.04)
Income	.33 (.00)*	.23 (.01)	.16 (.01)
Anxiety	.11 (.00)	.01 (.01)	.05 (.01)
Step 2	ΔR^2 = .01	ΔR^2 = .13*	ΔR^2 = .16**
Gender	−.20 (.02)	−.33 (.05)*	−.33 (.04)*
Income	.33 (.00)*	.23 (.01)	.16 (.01)
Anxiety	−.08 (.00)	.17 (.01)	.23 (.01)
Stressful life events	.09 (.00)	−.40 (.01)*	−.45 (.01)**
Step 3	ΔR^2 = .10	ΔR^2 = .14**	ΔR^2 = .12*
Gender	−.15 (.02)	−.27 (.05)	−.28 (.04)
Income	.38 (.00)*	.29 (.01)*	.22 (.01)
Anxiety	.02 (.00)	.28 (.01)	.34 (.01)*
Stressful life events	.04 (.00)	−.24 (.01)	−.30 (.01)
Child-perceived stress	−.37 (.00)*	−.44 (.00)**	−.40 (.00)*
Step 4	ΔR^2 = .01	ΔR^2 = .08*	ΔR^2 = .09*
Gender	−.10 (.02)	−.14 (.05)	−.13 (.04)
Income	.39 (.00)*	.31 (.01)*	.24 (.01)
Anxiety	−.05 (.00)	.11 (.01)	.14 (.01)
Stressful life events	−.01 (.01)	−.33 (.03)*	−.40 (.01)*
Child-perceived stress	−.41 (.00)*	−.55 (.00)***	−.51 (.00)**
SLE × CPSS	.17 (.00)	.43 (.00)*	.46 (.00)*

SLE: stressful life events; CPSS: Child-Perceived Stress Scale; significant findings remained for peak cortisol and cortisol change even after controlling for baseline cortisol.

* p < .05.

** p < .01.

*** p < .001.