Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00186 Rome, Italy.
Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic University Uninettuno, 00186 Rome, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 Jul 18;16(14):2567. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16142567.
Parental psychopathological risk is considered as one of the most crucial features associated with epigenetic modifications in offspring, which in turn are thought to be related to their emotional/behavioral profiles. The dopamine active transporter (DAT) gene is suggested to play a significant role in affective/behavioral regulation. On the basis of the previous literature, we aimed at verifying whether children's DAT1 polymorphisms moderated the relationship between parents' psychological profiles, children's emotional/behavioral functioning, and DAT1 methylation in a normative sample of 79 families with school-age children (Ntot = 237). Children's biological samples were collected through buccal swabs, while Symptom Check-List-90 item Revised, Adult Self Report, and Child Behavior Check-List/6-18 was administered to assess parental and children's psychological functioning. We found that higher maternal externalizing problems predicted the following: higher levels of children's DAT1 methylation at M1, but only among children with 10/10 genotype; higher levels of methylation at M2 among children with 10/10 genotype; while lower levels for children with a 9-repeat allele. There was also a positive relationship between fathers' externalizing problems and children's externalizing problems, only for children with a 9-repeat allele. Our findings support emerging evidence of the complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors in shaping children' emotional/behavioral functioning, contributing to the knowledge of risk variables for a child's development and psychological well-being.
父母的心理病理风险被认为是与后代表观遗传修饰最相关的特征之一，而这些修饰又被认为与他们的情感/行为特征有关。多巴胺主动转运蛋白（DAT）基因被认为在情感/行为调节中发挥重要作用。基于先前的文献，我们旨在验证儿童的 DAT1 多态性是否调节了父母心理特征、儿童情感/行为功能与 DAT1 甲基化之间的关系，在一个由 79 个有学龄儿童的家庭组成的正常样本中（Ntot = 237）。通过口腔拭子收集儿童的生物样本，同时对父母和儿童进行症状检查表-90 项修订版、成人自我报告和儿童行为检查表/6-18 评估以评估父母和儿童的心理功能。我们发现，母亲的外化问题越高，以下情况的发生率越高：M1 处儿童 DAT1 甲基化水平越高，但仅在 10/10 基因型的儿童中；10/10 基因型儿童的 M2 处甲基化水平越高；而 9 重复等位基因的儿童的甲基化水平越低。父亲的外化问题与儿童的外化问题之间也存在正相关，仅在儿童有 9 重复等位基因的情况下。我们的研究结果支持遗传和环境因素在塑造儿童情感/行为功能方面相互作用的复杂关系的新兴证据，为儿童发展和心理健康的风险变量提供了知识。
