Parenting Practices and Adolescent Effortful Control: MAOA T941G Gene Polymorphism as a Moderator

摘要

Effortful control (EC) plays a crucial role in psychopathology disorders. Emerging studies have paid attention to the effects of G × E interaction on EC. The present study investigated interactions between monoamine oxidase A ( MAOA ) T941G polymorphism with parenting practices on EC in a sample of 1,531 Chinese adolescents. The adolescents completed the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire–Revised (EATQ–R) EC scale and the Parenting Style Index provided during the study to assess EC and parenting practices, respectively. MAOA T941G polymorphism exerted no effect on adolescent EC; however, results revealed that the MAOA gene interacted with parental acceptance/involvement in their associations with EC among boys. Specifically, although increased levels of parental acceptance/involvement benefited all adolescents, boys with G alleles of the MAOA gene exhibited higher sensitivity to parental acceptance/involvement, compared with T carriers; this interaction was not significant among girls. This study is the first to identify MAOA × parenting interaction on adolescent EC, further contributing to the literature in MAOA gene–EC.