Exploring the role of OXTR gene methylation in attachment development: A longitudinal study

The current study explored longitudinally whether oxytocin receptor gene methylation (OXTRm) changes moderated the association between parental sensitivity changes and children's attachment changes over three waves. Six hundred six Flemish children (10–12 years, 42.8%–44.8% boys) completed atta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychobiology 2024-07, Vol.66 (5), p.e22496-n/a
Main Authors: Cuyvers, Bien, Ein‐Dor, Tsachi, Houbrechts, Melisse, Freson, Kathleen, Goossens, Luc, Van Den Noortgate, Wim, Leeuwen, Karla, Bijttebier, Patricia, Claes, Stephan, Turner, Jonathan, Chubar, Viktoria, Bakermans‐Kranenburg, Marian J., Bosmans, Guy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
attachment
Child
Child Development - physiology
DNA Methylation
Female
hormones
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Object Attachment
Parent-Child Relations
parental care
Parenting
Receptors, Oxytocin - genetics
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Summary:The current study explored longitudinally whether oxytocin receptor gene methylation (OXTRm) changes moderated the association between parental sensitivity changes and children's attachment changes over three waves. Six hundred six Flemish children (10–12 years, 42.8%–44.8% boys) completed attachment measures and provided salivary OXTRm data on seven CpG sites. Their parents reported their sensitive parenting. Results suggest that OXTRm changes hardly link to attachment (in)security changes after the age of 10. Some support was found for interaction effects between parental sensitivity changes and OXTRm changes on attachment changes over time. Effects suggest that for children with increased OXTRm in the promotor region and decreased methylation in the inhibitor region over time, increased parental sensitivity was associated with increased secure attachment and decreased insecure attachment over time.
ISSN:0012-1630
1098-2302
DOI:10.1002/dev.22496