The Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale with Kansas Supplement was administered to 60 newborns who were classified as extremely healthy or as having slight perinatal problems. Correlations between behavioral responding on the assessment scale and levels of plasma cortisol (obtained from blood tests) were examined. (PCB)

Determines the time course of circulating cortisol following circumcision in 80 healthy newborns and investigates whether changes in behavioral state following circumcision in anyway paralleled the adrenocortical time course. Adrenocortical and behavioral data indicated that subjects were able to cope with circumcision trauma. Cortisol levels…

Baseline and heelstick measures of behavioral state, heart period, vagal tone, and salivary cortisol were obtained from 50 full-term newborns. Mothers completed Rothbart's Infant Behavior Questionnaire when the infants reached six months of age. Greater reactivity to the heelstick was associated with lower scores on the…

Reviews research on the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system in normal infants. Special attention is paid to the environmental stimuli and psychological processes regulating the stress responses of this system. (NH)