Gene

Positive parenting

Biology

Association (psychology)

Psychiatry

Developmental psychology

Genetics

Serotonin transporter

Correlation

Psychology

Mathematics

Hostility

5-HTTLPR

Genotype

Child rearing

Psychotherapist

Geometry

Parenting styles

Intervention (counseling)

Clinical psychology

Social Development

Evidence suggests that parenting is associated cross-generationally and that children's genes may elicit specific parenting styles (evocative gene-environment correlation). This study examined whether the effect of children's genotype, specifically 5-HTTLPR, on mothers' parenting behaviors was moderated by her own parenting experiences from her mother. Two independent samples of three-year-olds (N = 476 and 405) were genotyped for the serotonin transporter gene, and observational measures of parenting were collected. Mothers completed measures of the parenting they received as children. The child having a short allele on 5-HTTLPR was associated with more maternal hostility (sample 1 and 2) and with less maternal support (sample 1), but only if the mother reported lower quality grandmothers' parenting (abuse and indifference in Sample 1 and lower levels of grandmother care in Sample 2). Results support the possibility of a moderated evocative gene-environment correlation.

Gene‐environment correlations in the cross‐generational transmission of parenting: Grandparenting moderates the effect of child 5‐HTTLPR genotype on mothers' parenting