Intergenerational transmission of risk for social inhibition: The interplay between parental responsiveness and genetic influences

Misaki N. Natsuaki, Leslie D. Leve, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, Daniel S. Shaw, Laura V. Scaramella, Xiaojia Ge, David Reiss

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

To better understand mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of social anxiety, we used a prospective adoption design to examine the roles of genetic influences (inferred from birth mothers' social phobia) and rearing environment (adoptive mothers' and fathers' responsiveness) on the development of socially inhibited, anxious behaviors in children between 18 and 27 months of age. The sample consisted of 275 adoption-linked families, each including an adopted child, adoptive parents, and a birth mother. Results indicated that children whose birth mothers met criteria for the diagnosis of social phobia showed elevated levels of observed behavioral inhibition in a social situation at 27 months of age if their adoptive mothers provided less emotionally and verbally responsive rearing environments at 18 months of age. Conversely, in the context of higher levels of maternal responsiveness, children of birth mothers with a history of social phobia did not show elevated levels of behavioral inhibition. These findings on maternal responsiveness were replicated in a model predicting parent reports of child social anxiety. The findings are discussed in terms of gene-environment interactions in the intergenerational transmission of social anxiety.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)261-274
Number of pages14
JournalDevelopment and Psychopathology
Volume25
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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