Parental incarceration, attachment to caregivers, and young children's physiological stress

Abstract

Parental incarceration can be stressful for children, leading to less optimal development. Although parental incarceration typically takes place among other adversities, resilience processes occur in many families, for example, in instances of secure child-caregiver attachment relationships. Yet, it is not known how secure attachments are associated with stress processes in children with incarcerated parents, especially in the context of other risks. The current study analyzed data from 67 child-caregiver dyads, measuring cumulative stress hormones (cortisol and cortisone) through children's hair samples and assessing attachment security using the Attachment Q-sort. Results indicated that children with higher attachment security scores had lower levels of cortisone and the combined cortisol/cortisone variable, aligning with the Learning Theory of Attachment, which posits that secure attachments mitigate stress through consistent, supportive caregiving. Conversely, children with insecure attachments exhibited more extreme cortisone levels, suggesting dysregulated stress responses. These findings underscore the importance of attachment security as a resilience factor in children facing parental incarceration and other adversities. The study calls for targeted interventions to strengthen caregiver-child relationships, which could buffer the long-term negative impacts of chronic stress. These results highlight the need for family-related approaches to support the well-being of children affected by mass incarceration.