Background: Prolonged stress exposure is associated with alterations in cortisol output. The COVID-19 pandemic represented a stressor for many, including children. However, a high-quality caregiving environment may protect against psychological problems and possibly against elevations in cortisol. We examined adolescents’ physiological stress responses to the pandemic and the role of attachment in two longitudinal samples from the Netherlands and the United States (https://aspredicted.org/HHY_8MK). Methods: Cortisol was assessed from hair samples before and during the pandemic, while attachment was self-reported prepandemic. Study 1 included a Dutch sample (N = 158; examined at ages 10 and later at 14 years old), whereas Study 2 included a US sample (N = 153; examined at ages 9–11 and again 2 years later) and an age-matched prepandemic sample (N = 29, 10–13 years old). Repeated-measures analyses of variance examined changes in cortisol from prepandemic to during the pandemic and the effect of attachment in each sample separately. Results: After accounting for age, both studies revealed nonsignificant changes in hair cortisol and a nonsignificant effect of attachment. A significant effect of sex emerged in Study 1, with Dutch girls showing a significant cortisol increase during the pandemic, which was not explained by puberty. Conclusion: These findings suggest differential associations of the pandemic with hair cortisol increases by sex and country.

中文翻译：

---

COVID-19 期间青少年头发皮质醇浓度：来自荷兰和美国两项纵向研究的证据

背景：长期承受压力与皮质醇输出的变化有关。COVID-19 大流行给包括儿童在内的许多人带来了压力。然而，高质量的护理环境可以防止心理问题，并可能防止皮质醇升高。我们在来自荷兰和美国的两个纵向样本中研究了青少年对流感大流行的生理压力反应以及依恋的作用（https://aspredicted.org/HHY_8MK）。方法：在大流行之前和期间对头发样本中的皮质醇进行了评估，而依恋是在大流行前自我报告的。研究 1 包括荷兰样本（N  = 158；在 10 岁检查，后来在 14 岁检查），而研究 2 包括美国样本（N  = 153；在 9-11 岁检查，2 年后再次检查）和年龄- 匹配的大流行前样本（N  = 29，10-13 岁）。重复测量方差分析分别检查了从大流行前到大流行期间皮质醇的变化以及每个样本中依恋的影响。结果：考虑到年龄后，两项研究都显示头发皮质醇没有显着变化，依恋也没有显着影响。研究 1 中出现了性的显着影响，荷兰女孩在大流行期间表现出皮质醇显着增加，这是青春期无法解释的。结论：这些发现表明，流行病与头发皮质醇增加的关联因性别和国家而异。