Poster #157 - The interaction between serotonin genes and mother-child attachment predicts preschoolers’ social competence

• In Event: 3-003 - Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Preschoolers’ social competence is important because it predicts their future wellbeing and success in adulthood (Jones et al., 2015). According to attachment theory (Bowlby, 1982), having secure attachment to caregivers helps children to develop social-emotional competence. However, some children may be more sensitive to the impact of a secure attachment than other children (e.g., Frigerio et al., 2009). Having particular genes may confer greater vulnerability to environmental stressors, but recently, there is growing attention to recognizing particular genes as also reflecting greater sensitivity to positive features of the environment (i.e., the differential susceptibility hypothesis; Belsky & Pluess, 2009). However, there have not yet been many empirical studies demonstrating the hypothesized “bright side” of sensitive genes (Ellis & Boyce, 2011). Given that serotonin genes are known to be related to mood and emotion regulation (Brown & Hariri, 2006), this study aimed to test the interaction between serotonin genes and secure mother-child attachment in predicting children’s social competence.
We analyzed data on 1,529 children from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS). Mothers reported children’s social competence using 13 items of the Adaptive Social Behavior Inventory (Hogan et al., 1992) at child age 5. Serotonin genes (5-HTTLPR and STin2) were collected via genetic assay from children’s saliva samples at age 9. Children who had two short alleles on the 5-HTTLPR or had 10/10 genotypes on STin2 were coded as 1 and others were coded as 0. Child attachment at age 3 was categorized into secure versus insecure attachment using 39 items from Everett Waters’ Attachment Q-Set. Covariates included mother-reported child temperament and parental adjustment (parenting mastery and parenting stress). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.
The results showed that children with the 10/10 genotype on STin2 showed less social competence (β = -.210, p < .01). However, if children with the 10/10 genotype on STin2 were securely attached to mothers, they were more likely to develop social competence than others (β = .239, p < .001). If children had SS alleles on 5-HTTLPR and were securely attached to mothers, they were also more likely to show greater social competence than others (β = .129, p < .05). Multigroup analysis results by child gender and child race/ethnicity supported that the coefficients between latent variables were not different between groups.
These results support the “bright side” of the differential susceptibility hypothesis. Having sensitive alleles on STin2 was associated with a greater risk of low social competence, but secure attachment moderated the association between children’s STin2 and their social competence. Like STin2, children with sensitive genes on 5-HTTLPR had a higher risk of low social competence than others if they were insecurely attached to their mothers, but were more socially competent than other children when securely attached to their mothers. These results illuminate the roles of serotonin genes in children’s social-emotional development, supporting the “bright side” of sensitive genes and also highlighting the importance of secure attachment for children’s social competence.

Authors

• Jin-kyung Lee, The Ohio State University
  Presenting Author

• Sarah J Schoppe-Sullivan, Ohio State University
  Non-Presenting Author