Developmental antecedents of second generation family stress processes: family-of-origin and individual differences

Abstract

The differential-susceptibility framework was tested with respect to parental perception of economic pressure and observed harsher parenting behaviors toward their adolescent. Adolescents (age 14) were observed interacting with their mothers (N = 343) and fathers (N = 315) during a structured interaction task. A parental polygenic index of hypothesized genetic sensitivity was created by summing allelic variation across 5 candidate gene polymorphisms (5-HTT, ANKK1/DRD2, DRD4, DAT, COMT). Compared to fathers who had low scores on the polygenic sensitivity index, fathers with high polygenic sensitivity scores were more likely to engage in more hostility, more angry coerciveness, and more antisocial behavior toward their adolescent child when they experienced higher levels of economic hardship. In contrast, mother genetic sensitivity was not as predictive as father genetic sensitivity in moderating parental perception of economic pressure and harsh parenting behaviors toward their adolescent. 1 Primary researcher and corresponding author. 2 Graduate Student, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University. 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University.