Parent anger relates to cortisol levels for children attending head start preschool

Abstract Objective The present study examined links between parent anger and levels of the stress hormone cortisol for children attending Head Start preschool. Background Effects of economic hardship can be explained, in part, by the impact of parent emotional distress on child cortisol. No prior studies have examined the impact of parent anger, specifically. Method Participants were 370 children, aged 3 to 5 years, who attended a Head Start preschool and their parents or primary caregivers. Parents completed demographic and emotion questionnaires, reporting on their symptoms of anger. Children provided saliva samples that were assayed for levels of the stress hormone cortisol across the preschool day at start, middle, and end‐of‐year time points. Results Latent growth curve analysis with structural equation modeling suggested that parent anger statistically related to child cortisol output across the preschool day and predicted change across the year. Children tended to show decreases in cortisol across the preschool year, and those whose parents reported greater anger showed less decrease. Conclusion Parent anger relates to child stress levels within early childhood educational context. Implications Parent anger should be studied further to understand whether this family risk constrains benefits of early childhood educational interventions for children facing economic hardship.