Genetic contributions to continuity and change in attachment security: a prospective, longitudinal investigation from infancy to young adulthood.

BACKGROUND Longitudinal research has demonstrated that individual differences in attachment security show only modest continuity from infancy to adulthood. Recent findings based on retrospective reports suggest that individuals' genetic variation may moderate the developmental associations between early attachment-relevant relationship experiences and adult attachment security. The purpose of this study was to use a prospective, longitudinal design to investigate genetic contributions to continuity and changes in attachment security from infancy to young adulthood in a higher risk sample. METHODS Infant attachment security was assessed using the Strange Situation Procedure at 12 and 18 months. Adults' general attachment representations were assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview at ages 19 and 26. Romantic attachment representations were assessed with the Current Relationship Interview (CRI) at ages 20-21 and ages 26-28. Individuals were genotyped for variants within the oxytocin receptor (OXTR), dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4), and serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR). RESULTS The continuity of attachment security from infancy into young adulthood was consistently moderated by OXTR genetic variation. Infant attachment security predicted the security of adults' general and romantic attachment representations only for individuals with the OXTR G/G genotype. This interaction was significant when predicting adult attachment security as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview at ages 19 and 26 and the CRI at ages 26-28. Dopamine D4 receptor and 5-HTTLPR genetic variation did not consistently moderate the longitudinal associations between attachment security during infancy and adulthood. CONCLUSIONS This study provides initial longitudinal evidence for genetic contributions to continuity and change in attachment security from infancy to young adulthood. Genetic variation related to the oxytocin system may moderate the stability of attachment security across development.

[1]  W. Collins,et al.  The Development of the Person: The Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation from Birth to Adulthood , 2005 .

[2]  Zoe R. Donaldson,et al.  Oxytocin, Vasopressin, and the Neurogenetics of Sociality , 2008, Science.

[3]  J. Bowlby,et al.  Developmental psychiatry comes of age. , 1988, The American journal of psychiatry.

[4]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  DRD4 genotype moderates the impact of parental problems on unresolved loss or trauma , 2011, Attachment & human development.

[5]  Glenn I. Roisman,et al.  Predictors of young adults' representations of and behavior in their current romantic relationship: Prospective tests of the prototype hypothesis , 2005, Attachment & human development.

[6]  J. Constantino,et al.  Mental Representations of Attachment in Identical Female Twins with and without Conduct Problems , 2006, Child psychiatry and human development.

[7]  Glenn I. Roisman,et al.  The Adult Attachment Interview and self-reports of attachment style: an empirical rapprochement. , 2007, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[8]  E. Waters,et al.  The stability of attachment security from infancy to adolescence and early adulthood: general discussion. , 2000, Child development.

[9]  G. Kochanska,et al.  Children's genotypes interact with maternal responsive care in predicting children's competence: Diathesis–stress or differential susceptibility? , 2011, Development and Psychopathology.

[10]  Soo Hong Chew,et al.  Genetics of Human Social Behavior , 2010, Neuron.

[11]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Oxytocin receptor (OXTR) and serotonin transporter (5-HTT) genes associated with observed parenting. , 2008, Social cognitive and affective neuroscience.

[12]  Peter Henningsen,et al.  Oxytocin enhances the experience of attachment security , 2009, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[13]  I. Reiner,et al.  Adult attachment and gene polymorphisms of the dopamine D4 receptor and serotonin transporter (5-HTT) , 2010, Attachment & human development.

[14]  Jude Cassidy,et al.  Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. , 1985 .

[15]  Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  A sniff of trust: Meta-analysis of the effects of intranasal oxytocin administration on face recognition, trust to in-group, and trust to out-group , 2012, Psychoneuroendocrinology.

[16]  J. J. Cutuli,et al.  Genetic and Caregiving-Based Contributions to Infant Attachment , 2012, Psychological science.

[17]  Glenn I. Roisman,et al.  Dopaminergic, serotonergic, and oxytonergic candidate genes associated with infant attachment security and disorganization? In search of main and interaction effects. , 2011, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[18]  Jay Belsky,et al.  Beyond diathesis stress: differential susceptibility to environmental influences. , 2009, Psychological bulletin.

[19]  Elisabeth B Binder,et al.  Association between childhood maltreatment and adult emotional dysregulation in a low-income, urban, African American sample: Moderation by oxytocin receptor gene , 2011, Development and Psychopathology.

[20]  L. Sroufe,et al.  Attachment from infancy to early adulthood in a high-risk sample: continuity, discontinuity, and their correlates. , 2000, Child development.

[21]  D. Langbehn,et al.  A sibling adoption study of adult attachment: The influence of shared environment on attachment states of mind , 2007, Attachment & human development.

[22]  David Goldman,et al.  An expanded evaluation of the relationship of four alleles to the level of response to alcohol and the alcoholism risk. , 2005, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[23]  Ross A. Thompson,et al.  The Development of the Person: Social Understanding, Relationships, Conscience, Self , 2007 .

[24]  R. Chris Fraley,et al.  Attachment Stability From Infancy to Adulthood: Meta-Analysis and Dynamic Modeling of Developmental Mechanisms , 2002 .

[25]  A. M. Torgersen,et al.  A pilot study of attachment patterns in adult twins , 2007, Attachment & human development.

[26]  Glenn I. Roisman,et al.  An experimental manipulation of retrospectively defined earned and continuous attachment security. , 2006, Child development.

[27]  D. Cicchetti,et al.  Gene × Environment interaction and resilience: Effects of child maltreatment and serotonin, corticotropin releasing hormone, dopamine, and oxytocin genes , 2012, Development and Psychopathology.

[28]  K. Lloyd.  Attachment from Infancy to Adulthood: The Major Longitudinal Studies , 2007, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[29]  Matthew C Keller,et al.  A critical review of the first 10 years of candidate gene-by-environment interaction research in psychiatry. , 2011, The American journal of psychiatry.

[30]  Marinus H. van IJzendoorn,et al.  The Role of Oxytocin in Mother‐Infant Relations: A Systematic Review of Human Studies , 2011, Harvard review of psychiatry.