Date of Graduation
Spring 2027
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Clinical Psychology (PsyD)
Department
Psychology
Committee Chairperson
Eleanor Brown, PhD
Committee Member
Lauren Brumley, PhD
Committee Member
Zachary Weaver, PsyD
Abstract
The present study examined the relations among cumulative poverty-related stressors, emotion regulation (ER), and cortisol functioning among children attending Head Start preschool through a bioecological framework and tested whether children’s ER moderated the association between cumulative poverty-related stressors and cortisol functioning among low-income preschool children attending Head Start. Approximately 288 children attending one of two Head Start preschools participated in the study. Cumulative poverty-related stressors included primary caregiver high school dropout, unemployment, relationship status, disrupted primary caregiving, residential instability, and family size. Child ER was measured via teacher reports, and salivary cortisol was sampled five times across the day. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine relations among cumulative poverty-related stressors, ER, and morning cortisol and total cortisol output across the day. Results did not provide statistical support for the primary study hypotheses. Cumulative poverty-related stressors were not significantly associated with either morning cortisol or cortisol output across the preschool day, and ER was not significantly associated with cortisol functioning. Additionally, ER did not significantly moderate the relation between cumulative poverty-related stressors and cortisol. Descriptively, cortisol levels demonstrated a generally declining pattern across the day. Although findings were not statistically significant, they contributed to the growing literature examining physiological regulation and resilience processes among children facing economic hardship. The findings highlight the complexity of physiological adaptation to chronic stress exposure during early childhood.
Final Version Confirmation
1
Recommended Citation
Schnarr, Emily, "Emotion Regulation in Relation to Cumulative Stress and Cortisol for Children Attending Head Start Preschool" (2027). West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects. 117.
https://digitalcommons.wcupa.edu/all_capstones/117