Recent “biosocial” perspectives on the
family recognize ongoing interactions between the environments
in which families live, family and individual functioning, and
multiple aspects of their biology and physiology (Booth, Carver,
and Granger 2000). From this perspective, one cannot understand
individuals’ or families’ behavior without understanding
their biological and physiological states. Also, biology and health
cannot be understood outside of references to social contexts.
Yet rarely are both family processes and biological processes
well measured, and rarely have researchers investigated the relations
between social and biological processes in day-to-day contexts.
In this study, a sub-sample of 101 mothers and fathers from the
Sloan Family Study provided two days of semi-random momentary
diary reports and samples of saliva, from which levels of the
stress-sensitive hormone cortisol were determined. Cortisol levels
were related to mothers’ and fathers’ momentary mood
states, their feelings about the activities they were engaged
in, and their location at certain points throughout the day—at
home, in public, or at work. Using a Hierarchical Linear Model
(HLM) growth curve to control for time of day, cortisol levels
were found to be higher when parents were experiencing negative
emotions. They were found to be lower when they experienced positive
social emotions, felt hardworking and productive, and enjoyed—and
felt deeply engaged in—challenging activities. Feelings
of productivity and engagement in activities were most frequently
experienced at work. Adam’s results suggest that parents’
emotional experiences in their daily settings are meaningfully
related to an aspect of their physiological functioning—their
cortisol levels. This might illuminate how social experiences
could “get under the skin” to affect health.
Emma K. Adam, Human Development
and Social Policy and Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern
University
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