1. I certainly think the early nurturant environments created by maternal behavior such as breastfeeding and bonding within the newborn-infant “window of opportunity” referred to by Hertzmann and Boyce has a significant impact on the process of biological embedding among human children. The latency effect of maternal nurturance within a circumscribed time frame has the potential to affect basic biological function related to immunological defense and has been shown to have lifelong consequences for the trajectories of children. Other examples of behaviors/environments analogous to maternal licking and grooming that create an epigenetic gradient at different points throughout the life course of children are positive attachments to a caregiver, stability and organization in the household, opportunities for play and socialization, and safety in the neighborhoods/communities children are raised in.
2. The study I propose examines the effects of maternal workforce participation on variations in HPA axis function and behavior among children with low SES. I’m interested in exploring the question, “Is maternal workforce participation in early life (0 to 4 years) a driver of adolescent stress?” The purpose of the longitudinal, mix-methods study would be to understand the degree to which social-emotional, cognitive, and developmental disturbances among adolescents are a function of HPA stimulation that occurs by result of early gaps in maternal detachment due to their participation in the workforce. The study would endeavor to assess cortisol levels among children/adolescents of employed single mothers with low SES, high SES, and mothers who are persistently unemployed to understand the effect maternal workforce participation has on the stress responses of adolescents
3.
Gruenewald’s cumulative effects theory of SES adversity on allostatic load and Weaver’s findings on the effects of maternal attachment on the stress response of offspring are consistent given that maternal detachment can be classified as a form of adversity in early childhood. Gruenewald’s study posits that “those of lower SES are subject to environmental, psychological, and behavioral characteristics and experiences that more often put demands on biological systems…leading to greater wear and tear over time and subsequently enhancing risk for poor health.” This includes higher levels of hormones hypothesized to be elevated under conditions of stress such as HPA. The connection to Weaver’s findings on maternal attachment are evident when considering the effects different indicators/experiences of SES may have on maternal behavior. For example, single mothers often are required to work multiple jobs to support their families and may subsequently spend more time away from their children during critical periods and throughout the life of the child. As stated by Hertmann and Boyce, the absence of positive attachment can have several deleterious and cumulative social, emotional and cognitive effects on the child across the life course. Among Gruenewald’s measured variables are “social contact, support, and conflict” which denote contact with family and friends, reliability of family/friends, and perceived level of conflict. He found that frequency of contact with family and friends had a statistically significant relationship with allostatic load which would suggest that both the findings of Gruenewald and Weaver are mutually supported.
4. Gene by Social context/environment interactions absolutely play a critical role in disparities along racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic lines due, in large part, to variations in exposures that are common as part of these experiences. As it concerns race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, social positioning determines where one lives, their access to social mobility, the accessibility of protective factors that promote and sustain health, and their overall social context which, as research suggests, can get under the skin and have significant effects on developmental trajectories.