Matches and Mismatches, Developmentally Informative and Sometimes Surprising!

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

A key principle in evolutionary thinking is that organisms are most likely to be well adapted when their characteristics match those of their environments. In this symposium we discuss three kinds of match and mismatch. First, matching between child and parental genetic profiles. In Study 1 from the large UK cohort, Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), increasing similarity in parent and child polygenic risk for neuroticism was associated with increasing enjoyment in the parent-child relationship as reported by mothers. Second, matching between infant attachment status and the family environment. In Study 2 we test the hypothesis that the emotionally open stance of the secure child towards the parent creates risk when it is mismatched with a hostile family environment. We report from the UK Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS) that children with secure attachment at 14 months who are exposed to partner violence show elevated irritability in childhood and depressive symptoms in early adolescence. Third, match and mismatch between prenatal and postnatal maternal affective symptoms and modification by maternal stroking based on epigenetic studies of the effects of tactile stimulation. Previous studies from WCHADS and ALSPAC have shown sex dependent mismatch effects modified by maternal stroking to psychopathology outcomes in middle childhood. Here we show, in Study 3 that these effects persist into adolescence in the UK sample, and in Study 4 for the first time replication across cultures, demonstrating the same effects in the Indian, Bangalore Child Health and Development Study (BCHADS).

Sub Unit

• Developmental Psychopathology

Chair

• Helen Sharp, University of Liverpool

Individual Presentations

• To Know and be Known: Genetic Similarity for Neuroticism in Families and Reported Relationship Quality. - Presenting Author: Rebecca Marie Pearson, Manchester Metropolitan University; Tim Cadman, University of Bristol; Iryna Culpin, University of Bristol; Ilaria Constantini, University of Bristol; Miguel Cordero, Universidad de Chile; Marc H Bornstein, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD/NIH); Alex Kwong, University of Bristol; Hannah Jones, University of Bristol; Hannah Sallis, University of Bristol

• Secure Attachment Confers Vulnerability for Adolescent Depression in Adverse Family Environments - Presenting Author: Jonathan Hill, University of Reading; Nicky Wright, Manchester Metropolitan University; Andrew Pickles; Helen Sharp, University of Liverpool

• Prediction of Adolescent Depression Using Evolutionary and Epigenetic Hypotheses - Presenting Author: Elizabeth Braithwaite, Manchester Metropolitan University; Jonathan Hill, University of Reading; Nicky Wright, Manchester Metropolitan University; Andrew Pickles; Helen Sharp, University of Liverpool

• Prediction of Children’s Internalising Behaviours at 4.5 Years in India Using Evolutionary and Epigenetic Hypotheses - Presenting Author: Nicky Wright, Manchester Metropolitan University; Helen Sharp, University of Liverpool; Prabha Chandra, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences; TA Supraja, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences; Laura Bozicevic, University of Liverpool; Andrew Pickles; Jonathan Hill, University of Reading