Elsevier

Current Opinion in Psychology

Volume 15, June 2017, Pages 143-148
Current Opinion in Psychology

Parenting intervention effects on children’s externalizing behavior: the moderating role of genotype and temperament

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.02.025Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Children’s susceptibility to parenting may have a (poly)genetic and temperament basis.

  • Much current evidence is of a preliminary—correlational—nature.

  • Parenting intervention effects are moderated by child genotype and temperament.

  • Experimental research may benefit from using microtrial designs.

  • Endophenotypes should be integrated in tests of gene–environment interactions.

Recent research suggests that children’s heightened susceptibility to parenting may have a (poly)genetic basis, and may be grounded in children’s temperament. However, much current evidence is of a preliminary—correlational—nature. Because in correlational designs alternative explanations for gene–environment (G × E) or temperament–environment (T × E) interactions cannot be discounted, it is pivotal to conduct experimental studies in which parenting is actively manipulated. Based on data from a recently conducted randomized trial (n = 387) of the Incredible Years parenting intervention, experimental evidence is provided for G × E and T × E interactions in an at-risk population of children aged 4–8 years. The discussion centers around the use of polygenetic data and microtrial designs, and provides suggestions for how to integrate endophenotypes in tests of G × E and T × E.

Section snippets

Conflict of interest statement

The author reports no conflicts of interest.

References and recommended reading

Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:

  • • of special interest

  • •• of outstanding interest

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Patty Leijten and Joyce Weeland for commenting on a concept version of this manuscript. Also, I would like to thank Alithe van den Akker for preparing and conducting the analyses on children’s effortful control and negative reactivity. The ORCHIDS study was funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO: 452-10-005). I am greatly thankful to all the Incredible Years trainers for their devotion and commitment in helping the parents develop toward more

References (45)

  • W.T. Boyce et al.

    Biological sensitivity to context: I. An evolutionary-developmental theory of the origins and functions of stress reactivity

    Dev Psychopathol

    (2005)
  • J. Belsky et al.

    For better and for worse: differential susceptibility to environmental influences

    Curr Dir Psychol Sci

    (2007)
  • J. Belsky et al.

    Beyond diathesis stress: differential susceptibility to environmental influences

    Psychol Bull

    (2009)
  • J. Belsky et al.

    Genetic differential susceptibility to the effects of parenting

    Curr Opin Psychol

    (2017)
  • K. Karg et al.

    The serotonin transporter promoter variant (5HTTLPR), stress, and depression meta-analysis revisited

    Arch Gen Psychiatry

    (2011)
  • A.L. Byrd et al.

    MAOA, childhood maltreatment, and antisocial behavior: meta-analysis of a gene–environment interaction

    Biol Psychiatry

    (2013)
  • M. Slagt et al.

    Differences in sensitivity to parenting depending on child temperament: a meta-analysis

    Psychol Bull

    (2016)
  • L.E. Duncan et al.

    A critical review of the first 10 years of candidate gene-by-environment interaction research in psychiatry

    Am J Psychiatry

    (2011)
  • M.J. Bakermans-Kranenburg et al.

    The hidden efficacy of interventions: gene × environment interactions from a differential susceptibility perspective

    Annu Rev Psychol

    (2015)
  • A. Caspi et al.

    Genetic sensitivity to the environment: the case of the serotonin transporter gene and its implications for studying complex diseases and traits

    Am J Psychiatry

    (2010)
  • R.R. Chhangur et al.

    ORCHIDS: an observational-randomised trial of childhood differential usceptibility

    BMC Public Health

    (2012)
  • F. Gardner et al.

    Incredible Years parenting interventions: current effectiveness research and future directions

    Curr Opin Psychol

    (2017)
  • Cited by (10)

    • Genetic differential susceptibility to the effects of parenting

      2017, Current Opinion in Psychology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Polygenic scores have not only been used in correlational studies but also in randomized control trials. In a recent large trial using the Incredible Years parenting intervention program, Overbeek and his team [19,20] investigated whether children scoring higher on a polygenic plasticity index based on five dopaminergic genes (DRD4, DRD2, DAT1, MAOA, and COMT) benefited the most from the parenting program. The 341 4–8 years olds were screened for moderate-to-high levels of externalizing problem behavior.

    • Social-learning parenting intervention research in the era of translational neuroscience

      2017, Current Opinion in Psychology
      Citation Excerpt :

      This this research is ongoing and results are not yet clear; notably, there is at least some evidence that the effects of this sort of intervention are moderated by stressful early experiences, in that the least responsive individuals appear to be those parents most in need of support [43]. Third, individual differences (in terms of both genetic and temperament measures) in sensitivity to environmental influences appear to be key moderators in explaining differential responsiveness to interventions [44,45]. As such, these variables may prove to be important in guiding research designed to increase the impact of parenting interventions.

    • Pairing attachment theory and social learning theory in video-feedback intervention to promote positive parenting

      2017, Current Opinion in Psychology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Another important question is whether VIPP-SD is equally effective for different types of children and parents. There is accumulating evidence for differential susceptibility, also in the context of interventions [36,37••,38]. This points to the hidden efficacy of interventions: In subgroups the intervention is (much) more effective than the overall effect size suggests.

    • Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up: addressing the needs of infants and toddlers exposed to inadequate or problematic caregiving

      2017, Current Opinion in Psychology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Evidence of ABC’s efficacy informs models of developmental psychopathology, highlighting the critical role of sensitive parenting for young children’s healthy development. Following models of differential susceptibility [59–61], future research should examine what factors in children and parents predict the magnitude of changes seen in outcomes as a result of ABC. Such evidence about moderators of treatment effectiveness can help in targeting interventions to those most likely to benefit, and tailoring interventions to those that may need a different or more intensive approach.

    • Incredible Years parenting interventions: current effectiveness research and future directions

      2017, Current Opinion in Psychology
      Citation Excerpt :

      However, in common with other programmes, much variation is found in the responses of individual children and families, meaning that further innovative moderator research is needed. This should focus, for example, on more powerful methods for synthesising individual-level data across trials, and enhancing our scientific understanding of individual differences in child and parent responses to intervention [49, 2017]. There is also a need for trials testing its longer-term effects, and for more rigorous and well-powered investigation of intervention mediation effects.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text