@article{ref1,
title="A role of oxytocin receptor gene brain tissue expression quantitative trait locus rs237895 in the intergenerational transmission of the effects of maternal childhood maltreatment",
journal="Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry",
year="2019",
author="Toepfer, Philipp and O'Donnell, Kieran J. and Entringer, Sonja and Heim, Christine M. and Lin, David T. S. and MacIsaac, Julia L. and Kobor, Michael S. and Meaney, Michael J. and Provençal, Nadine and Binder, Elisabeth B. and Wadhwa, Pathik D. and Buss, Claudia",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: Women exposed to childhood maltreatment (CM) are more likely to exhibit insensitive parenting, which may have consequences for their offspring´s development. Variation in the Oxytocin-receptor gene (OXTR) moderates risk of CM-associated long-term sequelae associated with mother-child attachment, although functionality of previously investigated SNPs remained elusive. Here, we investigated the role of OXTR rs237895, a brain tissue expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL), as a moderator of the relationship between CM and maternal behavior (MB) and the association between MB and offspring attachment security. <br><br>METHOD: Of 110 women with information on rs237895 genotype (T-allele=64, CC=46), n=107 have information on CM (CTQ) and n=99 on standardized observer-based ratings of MB at 6 months postpartum (responsivity and detachment), which were used in principal components analysis to obtain a latent factor representing MB. Offspring (n=86) attachment was evaluated at 12 months age. Analyses predicting MB were adjusted for socioeconomic status (SES), age, postpartum depression (PPD), and genotype-based ethnicity. Analyses predicting child attachment were adjusted for infant sex, SES, and PPD. <br><br>RESULTS: rs237895 significantly moderates the relationship between CM and MB (F<sub>1;66</sub>=7.99, p<.01), indicating that CM was associated with maternal insensitivity only in high OXTR-expressing T-allele carriers but not in low OXTR-expressing CC homozygotes. Moreover, maternal insensitivity predicted offspring insecure attachment (B= -.551; p<.05). <br><br>CONCLUSION: Women with a high OXTR expressing genotype are more susceptible to CM-related impairments in MB that, in turn, predicts attachment security in their children, supporting the role of the OT-system in the intergenerational transmission of risk associated with maternal CM.<br><br>Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0890-8567",
doi="10.1016/j.jaac.2019.03.006",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2019.03.006"
}