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Interaction Between Oxytocin Gene Variants and Perceived Parenting in Relation to Social Anxiety in Adolescents: Evidence for Differential Susceptibility Effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

S. Olofsdotter ,
C. Åslund ,
T. Furmark ,
E. Comasco  and
K. Nilsson
S. Olofsdotter
Affiliation:
Uppsala University, Centre for Clinical Research, Västerås, Sweden
C. Åslund
Affiliation:
Uppsala University, Centre for Clinical Research, Västerås, Sweden
T. Furmark
Affiliation:
Uppsala University, Department of Psychology, Uppsala, Sweden
E. Comasco
Affiliation:
Uppsala University, Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala, Sweden
K. Nilsson
Affiliation:
Uppsala University, Centre for Clinical Research, Västerås, Sweden

Abstract

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Introduction

Adolescence is a period of increasing demands in independent social functioning where parenting style may have an impact on social anxiety. A context-dependent effect of oxytocin on human social behavior has been suggested, however research on the gene coding for oxytocin (OXT) has mostly been reported without considering contextual factors.

Aim

This study investigated interactions between parenting style and polymorphic variations in the OXT gene in association with social anxiety symptoms in a community sample of adolescents.

Methods

The study group consisted of 1359 adolescents. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms located near OXT, rs4813625 and rs2770378, were genotyped. Social anxiety and perceived parenting style were assessed by behavioral questionnaires.

Results

Significant joint effects in line with the differential susceptibility framework were observed for rs4813625 with parenting style. The levels of social anxiety among C allele carriers were conditional on the level of supportive parenting style whereas homozygote G carriers’ levels of social anxiety were unaffected by supportive parenting style. The nature of the interactions between rs2770378 and parenting style was in line with the diatheses-stress model. However, associations of rs2770378 and parenting style with social anxiety became nonsignificant in nonlinear models.

Conclusions

The study provides preliminary evidence for a modifying effect of supportive parenting style on the relationship between rs4813625 and social anxiety symptoms in adolescents, independent of sex. The findings may be interpreted from the perspective of the social salience hypotheses of oxytocin, with rs4813625 affecting social anxiety levels along a perceived unsafe–safe social context dimension.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Type
Oral communications: Anxiety disorders and somatoform disorders; depression; obsessive-compulsive disorder and personality and personality disorders
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 41 , Issue S1: Abstract of the 25th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2017 , pp. S72
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2017
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