采用酶联免疫吸附法分析唾液皮质醇和日志记录上呼吸道感染(upperrespiratorytractinfection;URI)的方法,考察新人园的59名幼儿皮质醇变化与两个月期间患URI次数、持续时间的关系,同时检测了幼儿气质在其中的作用。结果发现,新人园幼儿在国庆小长假后的第一周内,其皮质醇变化的整体趋势表现为下午的皮质醇水平比上午的皮质醇水平高;上、下午皮质醇水平的变化幅度与其患URI次数显著负相关,注意分散度与患URI次数呈显著正相关,幼儿的自我控制能力与其患URI的平均持续时间显著负相关;趋避性能够调节上、下午皮质醇水平变化幅度与URI的平均持续时间的关系。研究表明,幼儿面对新人园这一急性压力事件时,皮质醇水平的暂时性升高对免疫系统产生了一定的刺激作用来抵抗URI。幼儿气质的认知、情绪的或注意的不同过程与URI以及对皮质醇变化水平与URI关系的作用机制有所不同。
The effects of psychosocial factors, in particular, stress on human health have been widely examined; and results showed that stress levels could account for a number of different acute and chronic health problems. Unfortunately, to date, most studies primarily focused on adults rather than children. The possible reason might be that the measurement of stress level in children is much more difficult than that of adults. Relatively few studies have confirmed that the susceptibility to or resistance against diseases of young children is related to their psychological stress. Moreover, the sources of stress include not only the characteristics of external stimulation, but also the individual innate characteristics (such as temperament). However, little research has examined the role of children's temperament on the relationship between stress level and diurnal and disease. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between salivary cortisol level (a physical index of stress level) of young children experiencing kindergarten transition and the occurrence of upper respiratory tract infection (URI) during their first 2 months in kindergarten and then further examined the moderating role of temperament on this relationship. Fifty-nine mother-child dyads were (mean age = 36.8months, 34 females) recruited from a kindergarten in Bejing. In the kindergarten, saliva samples were respectively taken from the children in the moming and aftemoon and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of salivary cortisol was done. Children's primary caregiver was asked to complete a Temperament Questionnaire. Symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection (URI) were recorded in diary form, and variables relating to URI occurrence and duration owere assessed. In addition, three tasks were performed to measure children's temperamental self-control. The data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. The results showed: (1) Cortisol levels in the afternoon were significantly higher than th