Implicit association to infant faces: Genetics, early care experiences, and cultural factors influence caregiving propensities

Abstract

Genetics, early experience, and culture shape caregiving, but it is still not clear how genetics, early experiences, and cultural factors might interact to influence specific caregiving propensities, such as adult responsiveness to infant cues. To address this gap, 80 Italian adults (50% M; 18-25 years) were (1) genotyped for two oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms (rs53576 and rs2254298) and the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), which are implicated in parenting behaviour, (2) completed the Adult Parental Acceptance/Rejection Questionnaire to evaluate their recollections of parental behaviours toward them in childhood, and (3) were administered a Single Category Implicit Association Test to evaluate their implicit responses to faces of Italian infants, Japanese infants, and Italian adults. Analysis of implicit associations revealed that Italian infant faces were evaluated as most positive; participants in the rs53576 GG group had the most positive implicit associations to Italian infant faces; the serotonin polymorphism moderated the effect of early care experiences on adults’ implicit association to both Italian infant and adult female faces. Finally, 5-HTTLPR S carriers showed less positive implicit responses to Japanese infant faces. We conclude that adult in-group preference extends to in-group infant faces and that implicit responses to social cues are influenced by interactions of genetics, early care experiences, and cultural factors. These findings have implications for understanding processes that regulate adult caregiving.

How becoming a mother shapes implicit and explicit responses to infant cues

“…In line with the literature (see Barret & Fleming, ; Field, ; Fleming et al, ; Senese et al, ), we expected that (a) both implicit and explicit postpartum responses to infants would be more positive than responses observed during pregnancy; (b) that remembered rejection would be negatively related to explicit and implicit positive responses to infant cues, and (c) that the mode of delivery would be associated with explicit and implicit responses to infant cues and, in line with the PBM and the recent literature (Senese, Shinohara, et al, ; Swain et al, ), that mode of delivery would moderate the effect of parental experiences on implicit responses.…”

“…Mother's responses to infant faces were also highly variable. This confirms the results observed in previous studies showing wide individual differences in implicit response to infant cues (Senese at al., ; Senese, Shinohara, et al, ). This variability could help to explain the different behavioral patterns of mothers toward infants.…”

“…Even brain responsiveness to infant cues appears to be affected by the quality of parental experiences during childhood: fMRI studies linking processing of infant faces and measures of the adult attachment relationship showed that securely attached mothers (Strathearn, Fonagy, Amico, & Montague, ) and mothers with higher reflective function (Lenzi et al, ) more strongly activated subcortical areas of the PBM (Swain et al, ). Furthermore, responsiveness to salient infant cues is affected by interactions between genes (e.g., oxytocin receptor gene and serotonin transporter gene) and environments (Senese, Shinohara, et al, ), supporting the idea that adult responsiveness to infants is a complex process that needs further investigation.…”

“…Because mode of delivery is associated with hormones and neurohormones that are related to parental practices (Feldman, in press; Swain et al, ), it may be that mode of delivery—vaginal versus cesarean—affects maternal responsiveness to infant cues. Indeed, compared with cesarean section, vaginal delivery is associated to a greater release of oxytocin (Swain et al, ), a neurohormone that is considered a key moderator of social (Senese, Shinohara, et al, ) and maternal behavior (Feldman, in press; Swain et al, ). Swain et al () found that, among several factors that influence parental brain circuits, mode of delivery is important in the regulation of maternal behaviors.…”

The development of attachment: Integrating genes, brain, behavior, and environment

“…In very different cultural contexts such as Italy and Japan, bonding experiences interact with genetics (such as the oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms rs2254298 [7] and rs53576 [8] and the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR,[8][9]) to modulate affective attitude towards either own infant[9] or infants in general[8]. The final two papers of this section describe how environmental factors (e.g., socio-cultural level) as well as individual (e.g., genetic makeup) and interpersonal factors (e.g., caregiver-child relationships) play crucial roles in shaping the development of the personality [10] and how socio-economic status has a strong impact on modulating maternal brain mechanisms that regulate propensity toward own infants [11].…”