Oxytocin receptor polymorphism influences characterization of harm avoidance by moderating susceptibility to affectionless control parenting

Abstract

Introduction:Oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene polymorphism reportedly moderates effects of negative environments during childhood on mental function and behavior such as depressive symptoms and externalizing problems. This study examined OXTR gene polymorphism effects on personality traits in healthy participants, considering interaction effects of polymorphism with affectionless control (AC) parenting which is one of the dysfunctional and pathogenic parenting styles.Methods: For 496 Japanese volunteers, personality was evaluated using the Temperament and Character Inventory. The Parental Bonding Instrument, which has subscales of care and protection, was used to assess perceived parental rearing. AC parenting was defined as low care and high protection. A/G polymorphism of the OXTR gene (rs53576) was detected using TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assay.Results: Two-way analysis of covariance revealed significant interaction effects between the genotype and the number of AC parents on scores of harm avoidance, with no significant main effect of genotype on any personality. Post-hoc analysis revealed that the harm avoidance scores were increased in a stepwise manner with respect to the increase of the number of AC parents in the A allele carriers. No similar association was observed in the A allele noncarriers. Conclusion:The results of this study suggest that OXTR polymorphism influences characterization of harm avoidance by moderating susceptibility to AC parenting.

Systematic review: pain, cognition, and cardioprotection—unpacking oxytocin’s contributions in a sport context

“…When under stress caused by exercise, W rats produce the adrenocorticotropic hormone, in response to which oxytocin is also secreted as a buffer in the stress response. However, in humans, this might be dependent on the stress scenario, the environment, genetic profiles, early life experiences, and nutrition ( Takahashi et al, 2022 ; Liu et al, 2022 ; Scarola et al, 2019 ; Skinner et al, 2019 ; Cai et al, 2023 ; Ebner et al, 2005 ; Noto et al, 2021 ; Weisman et al, 2013 ). At the same time, individual variations will contribute to how much stress gets reduced by oxytocin ( Fitzpatrick and Morrow, 2020 ; Sonne and Gash, 2018 ).…”

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“…When under stress caused by exercise, W rats produce the adrenocorticotropic hormone, in response to which oxytocin is also secreted as a buffer in the stress response. However, in humans, this might be dependent on the stress scenario, the environment, genetic profiles, early life experiences, and nutrition (Takahashi et al, 2022;Liu et al, 2022;Scarola et al, 2019;Skinner et al, 2019;Cai et al, 2023;Ebner et al, 2005;Noto et al, 2021;Weisman et al, 2013). At the same time, individual variations will contribute to how much stress gets reduced by oxytocin (Fitzpatrick and Morrow, 2020;Sonne and Gash, 2018).…”