@article{ref1, title="Children's DAT1 polymorphism moderates the relationship between parents' psychological profiles, children's DAT methylation, and their emotional/behavioral functioning in a normative sample", journal="International journal of environmental research and public health", year="2019", author="Cimino, Silvia and Cerniglia, Luca and Ballarotto, Giulia and Marzilli, Eleonora and Pascale, Esterina and D'Addario, Claudio and Adriani, Walter and Maremmani, Angelo Giovanni Icro and Tambelli, Renata", volume="16", number="14", pages="e16142567-e16142567", abstract="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.

Language: en

", language="en", issn="1661-7827", doi="10.3390/ijerph16142567", url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142567" }