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Maternal Unresponsiveness and Child Disruptive Problems: The Interplay of Uninhibited Temperament and Dopamine Transporter Genes
Author(s) -
Davies Patrick,
Cicchetti Dante,
Hentges Rochelle F.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12281
Subject(s) - moderation , psychology , temperament , developmental psychology , context (archaeology) , biosocial theory , allele , personality , genetics , social psychology , gene , biology , paleontology
This study examined how and why dopamine transporter ( DAT1 ) susceptibility alleles moderate the relation between maternal unresponsiveness and young children's behavior problems in a disadvantaged, predominantly minority sample of 201 two‐year‐old children and their mothers. Using a multimethod, multisource design, the findings indicated that a genetic composite of DAT1 susceptibility alleles (rs27072, rs40184) potentiated associations between maternal unresponsive caregiving and increases in children's behavior problems 2 years later. Moderator‐mediated‐moderation analyses further revealed that the DAT1 diathesis was more proximally mediated by the potentiating effects of children's uninhibited temperament in the pathway between maternal unresponsiveness and disruptive behavior problems. Results are interpreted in the context of supporting and advancing the biosocial developmental model (Beauchaine & Gatzke‐Kopp, 2012).