Neonatal Stress on Adult Stress Term Paper

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The human stress response is influenced by a host of personality characteristics and life experiences that cannot be duplicated in animal studies. (Anisman & Merali, 1999, p. 241)

Because stressful stimuli often elicit cortisol secretion, some researchers have proposed the use of cortisol levels as an index of the stress response. (Anisman & Merali, 1999, p. 241)

Researchers have indicated that human and animal anxiety/stress profiles differ along cognitive behavioral lines. These findings are based on the idea that anxiety is understood as an affective (emotional) state in humans (Wall & Messier, 2001). Research was conducted regarding stress utilizing Rhesus monkeys. The study uses a hormone Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which was injected into half of the pregnant Rhesus monkeys in the study. ACTH is secreted from the anterior pituitary in response to corticotropin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus. It is secreted in response to various types of stress. Blood samples were collected from the controls and ACTH treated females to evaluate the effect of the injections at 1 and 2 weeks. The samples were obtained 4 hours after the injection, and the cortisol levels elicited on the final day of the 2-week treatment show ACTH markedly elevated adrenal activity in the pregnant female; the very high cortisol levels were comparable after both morning and afternoon injections. The saline control females continued to have normal, baseline levels of cortisol for this stage of pregnancy, and evinced the expected diurnal rhythm, with higher cortisol during the morning and lower titers in the early evening.

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(Lewis & Ramsay, 1999, p. 24) the research concluded that gestational length did not vary and pregnancies went normal to term.

It was further determined that after the ACTH treatment, repeated, acute stress during pregnancy resulted in the birth of infants with significantly poorer neuromotor responses. Therefore, researchers are able to state that prenatal treatment does affect the fetus. Both animal and human research directed at the effects of physical and psychological stress during pregnancy has further reinforced the notion of a vulnerable fetus (Field, McCabe, & Schneiderman, 1985, p. 162). Field & field (1991), report that a newborn assessment such as the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale usually involves reflex testing and repositioning of the infant, handling that has been noted to be stressful for the preterm neonate. Other indicators of stress such as elevations of cortisol and decreases in growth hormone following the Brazelton suggest that these assessments may be stressful in supporting the effects of stress on the neonate. (p. 50)

Development in mammals is profoundly affected by environmental stimuli. Those stimuli provided by the mother appear to be most critical for survival and growth. Disruption of the mother-infant relationship contributes to marked behavioral and physiological stress responses in the offspring ranging from transient changes in body temperature, heart rate, and locomotor activity following short periods of separation, to marked growth retardation, developmental delays, and immune dysfunction following more long-term separations (Field, McCabe, & Schneiderman, 1988,.....

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