Abstract
Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), an enzyme produced by the salivary glands, increases in response to physical and psychosocial stressors in adults. Whether similar increases are evident among children, though, is less clear, and there is a lack of studies directly comparing children's and adults' sAA responses to an identical stressor. In this study, 24 children (9-12 years; 12 female) and 26 adults (18-23 years; 16 female) were exposed to an identical psychosocial laboratory stressor and a recall interview regarding that stressor after a 2-week delay. Saliva was collected before and 1, 10, 20, and 30 min after the stressor/recall interview. Among adults, concentrations of sAA increased on both study days, but similar increases were not detected among children. Findings suggest developmental differences in sAA reactivity, and underscore the need to characterize the confluence of elements that will reliably elicit sAA responses to mild stress in youth.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 598-602 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Developmental psychobiology |
Volume | 52 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Children
- Development
- Laboratory stressor
- Salivary alpha-amylase
- Stress
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Behavioral Neuroscience