TY - JOUR
T1 - Predicting the use of corporal punishment
T2 - Child aggression, parent religiosity, and the BDNF gene
AU - Avinun, Reut
AU - Davidov, Maayan
AU - Mankuta, David
AU - Knafo-Noam, Ariel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2018/3/1
Y1 - 2018/3/1
N2 - Corporal punishment (CP) has been associated with deleterious child outcomes, highlighting the importance of understanding its underpinnings. Although several factors have been linked with parents’ CP use, genetic influences on CP have rarely been studied, and an integrative view examining the interplay between different predictors of CP is missing. We focused on the separate and joint effects of religiosity, child aggression, parent's gender, and a valine (Val) to methionine (Met) substitution in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. Data came from a twin sample (51% male, aged 6.5 years). We used mothers’ and fathers’ self-reports of CP and religiosity, and the other parent's report on child aggression. Complete data were available for 244 mothers and their 466 children, and for 217 fathers and their 409 children. The random split method was employed to examine replicability. For mothers, only the effect of religiosity appeared to replicate. For fathers, several effects predicting CP use replicated in both samples: child aggression, child sex, religiosity, and a three-way (GxExE) interaction implicating fathers’ BDNF genotype, child aggression and religiosity. Religious fathers who carried the Met allele and had an aggressive child used CP more frequently; in contrast, secular fathers’ CP use was not affected by their BDNF genotype or child aggression. Results were also repeated longitudinally in a subsample with age 8–9 data. Findings highlight the utility of a bio-ecological approach for studying CP use by shedding light on pertinent gene-environment interaction processes. Possible implications for intervention and public policy are discussed.
AB - Corporal punishment (CP) has been associated with deleterious child outcomes, highlighting the importance of understanding its underpinnings. Although several factors have been linked with parents’ CP use, genetic influences on CP have rarely been studied, and an integrative view examining the interplay between different predictors of CP is missing. We focused on the separate and joint effects of religiosity, child aggression, parent's gender, and a valine (Val) to methionine (Met) substitution in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. Data came from a twin sample (51% male, aged 6.5 years). We used mothers’ and fathers’ self-reports of CP and religiosity, and the other parent's report on child aggression. Complete data were available for 244 mothers and their 466 children, and for 217 fathers and their 409 children. The random split method was employed to examine replicability. For mothers, only the effect of religiosity appeared to replicate. For fathers, several effects predicting CP use replicated in both samples: child aggression, child sex, religiosity, and a three-way (GxExE) interaction implicating fathers’ BDNF genotype, child aggression and religiosity. Religious fathers who carried the Met allele and had an aggressive child used CP more frequently; in contrast, secular fathers’ CP use was not affected by their BDNF genotype or child aggression. Results were also repeated longitudinally in a subsample with age 8–9 data. Findings highlight the utility of a bio-ecological approach for studying CP use by shedding light on pertinent gene-environment interaction processes. Possible implications for intervention and public policy are discussed.
KW - child aggression
KW - corporal punishment
KW - gene-environment interaction
KW - religiosity
KW - the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85034244401&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ab.21740
DO - 10.1002/ab.21740
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C2 - 29148066
AN - SCOPUS:85034244401
SN - 0096-140X
VL - 44
SP - 165
EP - 175
JO - Aggressive Behavior
JF - Aggressive Behavior
IS - 2
ER -