Abstract
(1) Circumcision (Gomco clamp method) produced 3- to 4-fold increases in serum cortisol concentrations at 30 min in 3- to 5-day-old human neonates. (2) Increases in serum cortisol concentrations were positively related to the neonates' state of behavioral arousal during circumcision. (3) Neonates given a pacifier to suck on during circumcision showed significantly less distress (crying). (4) Behavioral arousal during circumcision was inversely related to behavioral arousal in the half hour following circumcision.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 269-275 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Psychoneuroendocrinology |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1981 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to thank Michael Steffen, Lorna R. Tittl and Linda Turner for their invaluable assistance during this project. This research was supported by Research Grant 432-0100-4909-02 from the University of Minnesota Graduate School to Megan R. Gunnar and by a grant from the Julie Nelson Foundation to Robert O. Fisch.
Keywords
- Pituitary-adrenal
- circumcision
- cortisol
- human neonates
- neonatal state