signals, reunion produced a marked decrease in cortisol levels (Gunnar et al., 1981). Additionally, as noted earlier, CSF serotonin metabolites in maltreated and control Rhesus infants varied with how much the mother rejected their bids for attention, not with the amount of abuse the infants experienced (Maestripieri et al., 2006a; Maestripieri et al., 2006b). There is also evidence that contact with the mother fails to buffer cortisol increases to capture and handling in rejecting/maltreating Rhesus dyads (personal communication, Kai McCormack, 4/20/2009), a finding highly comparable to evidence that the presence of the parent in insecure attachment relationships fails to buffer cortisol increases to fear-eliciting events (Nachmias et al., 1996). Although we cannot assume that the maltreating Rhesus dyads have insecure attachment, preliminary findings suggest this may be the case. Using an adaption of the Attachment Q-sort designed for the study of human children for use with maltreating Rhesus dyads, McCormack and colleagues (2007) found that infants of abusive Rhesus mothers scored lower on attachment security than did offspring of non-abusive Rhesus mothers.
