Maternal caregiving and DNA methylation in human infants and children: Systematic review

Provenzi, Livio; Brambilla, Maddalena; Minico, Giunia Scotto di; Montirosso, Rosario; Borgatti, Renato

doi:10.1111/gbb.12616

Cited by 51 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…Although promising, the available body of evidence should be treated with caution as most studies until now have relied on relatively small sample sizes, often used a single candidate gene approach, and have been cross‐sectional—often retrospective—in research design. A recent review by Provenzi, Brambilla, di Minico, Montirosso, and Borgatti (2019) is illustrative of this trend, showing that out of 11 studies of methylation and maternal behavior only 4 ( n ≤ 128) had a prospective design. Moreover, although childhood adversity has been linked to differential DNA methylation, previous research has not established whether DNA methylation mediates a link between dysfunctional parenting and subsequent stress reactivity and disruptive behavior.…”

Section: (Epi)genetics In Parenting Effects On Disruptive Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

When mummy and daddy get under your skin: A new look at how parenting affects children's DNA methylation, stress reactivity, and disruptive behavior

Overbeek

Creasey

Wesarg

et al. 2020

New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development

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Child maltreatment is a global phenomenon that affects the lives of millions of children. Worldwide, as many as one in three to six children encounter physical, sexual, or emotional abuse from their caregivers. Children who experience abuse often show alterations in stress reactivity. Although this alteration may reflect a physiological survival response, it can nevertheless be harmful in the long run-increasing children's disruptive behavior and jeopardizing their development in multiple domains. But can we undo this process in atrisk children? Based on several lines of pioneering research, we hypothesize that we indeed can. Specifically, we hypothesize that highly dysfunctional parenting leads to an epigenetic pattern in children's glucocorticoid genes that contributes to stress dysregulation and disruptive behavior. However, we also hypothesize that it is possible to "flip the methylation switch" by improving parenting with known-effective parenting interventions in atrisk families. We predict that improved parenting will change methylation in genes in the glucocorticoid pathway, leading to improved stress reactivity and decreased disruptive behavior in children. Future research testing this theory may transform developmental and intervention science, demonstrating how parents can get under their children's skins-and how this mechanism can be reversed.

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Section: (Epi)genetics In Parenting Effects On Disruptive Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

When mummy and daddy get under your skin: A new look at how parenting affects children's DNA methylation, stress reactivity, and disruptive behavior

Overbeek

Creasey

Wesarg

et al. 2020

New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development

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“…Increased prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms was reported in survivals of the SARS epidemic (10) and preliminary evidence of similar psychological effects are also emerging for the Covid-19 emergency (11). Notably, the stress perceived by parents may widely affect parenting behaviors (12) and the quality of parent-child interaction (13,14). Neuroscientific (15) and epigenetic (16) evidence suggests that these stress-related parenting effects may have profound intergenerational consequences for children's emotional and cognitive development (17)(18)(19).…”

mentioning

confidence: 92%

The Little Professor and the Virus: Scaffolding Children’s Meaning Making During the COVID-19 Emergency

Provenzi¹,

Baroffio²,

Ligabue³

et al. 2020

Front. Psychiatry

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“…For example, research in animals, living humans, and postmortem human brains has shown associations between early environment (e.g. trauma) and DNA methylation [ 18 ▪ , 19 – 24 ]. Likewise, exposure to gestational distress (e.g.…”

Section: What Is Dna Methylation?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying epigenetic science to the understanding of eating disorders: a promising paradigm for research and practice

Booij

Steiger

2020

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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Purpose of review Studies indicate that environmental factors, acting at various moments throughout the life cycle, can result in epigenetically mediated alterations in gene expression. In this article, we review recent findings on the role of epigenetic factors in eating disorders, address methodological issues that need to be considered when interpreting research findings, and comment on possible clinical applications. Recent findings Evidence suggests that eating disorders implicate alterations of methylation in genes involved in the mental status, metabolism, anthropometric features and immunity. Furthermore, some research in individuals with anorexia nervosa suggests the presence of reversible, malnutrition-induced epigenetic alterations that ‘reset’ as patients recover. Summary Epigenetic studies in the eating disorders corroborate the idea that eating disorder cause is multifactorial, and identify markers that could help inform our understanding of illness staging and subtyping that may explain the commonly progressive course of these disorders, and that may provide insights towards the development of novel interventions. Already, there is evidence to suggest that, in people with eating disorders, epigenetically informed interventions help reduce stigma and shame, and increase self-acceptance and hopes of recovery. Although findings are intriguing, further research is required as, to date, studies apply modest sample sizes and disparate methodologies.

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Maternal caregiving and DNA methylation in human infants and children: Systematic review

Cited by 51 publications

References 88 publications

When mummy and daddy get under your skin: A new look at how parenting affects children's DNA methylation, stress reactivity, and disruptive behavior

When mummy and daddy get under your skin: A new look at how parenting affects children's DNA methylation, stress reactivity, and disruptive behavior

The Little Professor and the Virus: Scaffolding Children’s Meaning Making During the COVID-19 Emergency

Applying epigenetic science to the understanding of eating disorders: a promising paradigm for research and practice

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