Children's biological givens, stress responses, language and cognitive abilities and family background after entering kindergarten in toddlerhood

Abstract

We aimed to investigate stress response regulation, temperament, cognitive and language abilities and family SES in children who entered kindergarten before two years of age. Whilst childrens stress regulatory systems are vulnerable to environmental influences little is known about how temperament and family characteristics impact on stress regulation in early years. Participants were 129 children (age 7 to 23 months) from 29 kindergartens. Stress response regulation was assessed by measuring salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase activity. Cognitive and language abilities were assessed using Bayley-III and children temperament with ECBQ-questionnaire. Family characteristics were assessed with surveys. Results suggest that children are alerted during kindergarten day, but their stress response regulation is balanced. Girls and boys differed in cognitive and language abilities. We propose that childrens individual needs should be better acknowledged in kindergartens.