Citation

Leve LD, Kerr DCR, Shaw D, Ge X, Neiderhiser JM, Scaramella LV, Reid JB, Conger RD, Reiss D. Child Dev. 2010; 81(1): 340-356.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01398.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

To further the understanding of the effects of early experiences, 9‐month‐old infants were observed during a frustration task. The analytical sample was composed of 348 linked triads of participants (adoptive parents, adopted child, and birth parent[s]) from a prospective adoption study. It was hypothesized that genetic risk for externalizing problems and affect dysregulation in the adoptive parents would independently and interactively predict a known precursor to externalizing problems: heightened infant attention to frustrating events. Results supported the moderation hypotheses involving adoptive mother affect dysregulation: Infants at genetic risk showed heightened attention to frustrating events only when the adoptive mother had higher levels of anxious and depressive symptoms. The Genotype × Environment interaction pattern held when substance use during pregnancy was considered.