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 |
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Authors: | Kristin Bernard Camelia E. Hostinar Mary Dozier |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United Stateskristin.bernard@stonybrook.edu;3. Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, United States;4. Department of Psychological and Brain Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACTIn 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. |
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Keywords: | Insecure attachment maltreatment c-reactive protein body mass index inflammation |
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