Pathways Linking Childhood Trauma to Rural, Unmarried, African American Father Involvement through Oxytocin Receptor Gene Methylation

Autor/inn/en	Brown, Geoffrey L.; Kogan, Steven M.; Cho, Junhan
Titel	Pathways Linking Childhood Trauma to Rural, Unmarried, African American Father Involvement through Oxytocin Receptor Gene Methylation
Quelle	In: Developmental Psychology, 56 (2020) 8, S.1496-1508 (13 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0012-1649
DOI	10.1037/dev0000929
Schlagwörter	African Americans; Fathers; Trauma; Child Development; Parent Influence; Parent Participation; Rural Areas; Young Adults; Genetics; Social Influences; Mothers; Interpersonal Relationship; Predictor Variables; One Parent Family; Biochemistry; Individual Characteristics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Afroamerikaner; Kindesentwicklung; Elternmitwirkung; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Young adult; Junger Erwachsener; Humangenetik; Sozialer Einfluss; Mother; Mutter; Interpersonal relation; Interpersonal relations; Interpersonelle Beziehung; Zwischenmenschliche Beziehung; Prädiktor; Single parent family; Ein-Eltern-Familie; Biochemie; Personality characteristic; Personality traits; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal
Abstract	Father involvement contributes uniquely to children's developmental outcomes. The antecedents of father involvement among unmarried, African American fathers from rural areas, however, have been largely overlooked. The present study tested a conceptual model linking retrospective reports of childhood trauma and early adulthood social instability to father involvement among unmarried, African American men living in resource-poor, rural communities in the southeastern United States. We hypothesized these factors would influence father involvement indirectly, via DNA methylation of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). A sample of 192 fathers participated in 3 waves of data collection in early adulthood. Fathers reported on social instability at Wave 1; OXTR methylation was assessed via saliva samples at Wave 2; and measures of father involvement, retrospective childhood trauma, and quality of the fathers' relationships with their children's mothers were collected at Wave 3. Structural equation modeling indicated that childhood trauma was related directly to reduced levels of father involvement and to increased social instability. Social instability was associated with elevated levels of OXTR methylation, which in turn predicted decreased father involvement. The indirect effect from social instability to father involvement via OXTR methylation was significant. These associations did not operate through fathers' relationship with the child's mother and remained significant even accounting for associations between interparental relationship quality and father involvement. Findings suggest that OXTR methylation might be a biological mechanism linking social instability to father involvement among unmarried, African American fathers in vulnerable contexts and underscore the detrimental influence of childhood trauma on father involvement. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01