Objective

Caring, sensitive parenting is known to be associated with higher levels of engagement in support-seeking behaviors among children and young adolescents. However, no study has yet explored the role of perceived parental attention in social support seeking in early adulthood. Growing evidence suggests that the µ-opioid receptor gene polymorphism (OPRM1 A118G) moderates one’s responsiveness to social environments. Prompted by the differential susceptibility theory of gene–environment interaction, the present study examined whether the OPRM1 polymorphism would moderate the association between perceived parental attention and social support seeking in early adulthood.

Methods

Six hundred and twenty Japanese undergraduate students self-reported the amount of attention they subjectively perceived their parents to have given them during childhood and completed scales that assess support-seeking behaviors. Clippings of their fingernails were collected for genotyping.

Results

The results showed that the interactive effect of perceived parental attention and OPRM1 genotypes on social support seeking was significant. Specifically, perceived parental attention only significantly and positively predicted OPRM1 GG carriers’ social support seeking in response to stress.

Conclusions

The findings support the view that OPRM1 polymorphism moderates the association between early experiences and developmental outcomes.

中文翻译：

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Mu阿片受体基因（OPRM1）调节父母注意力对社会支持寻求的影响

客观的

众所周知，关爱、敏感的养育方式与儿童和青少年寻求支持行为的参与程度较高有关。然而，目前还没有研究探讨父母的关注在成年早期寻求社会支持中的作用。越来越多的证据表明，μ-阿片受体基因多态性 ( OPRM1 A118G) 可以调节人对社会环境的反应。在基因-环境相互作用的差异易感性理论的推动下，本研究检验了OPRM1多态性是否会调节成年早期感知到的父母关注与寻求社会支持之间的关联。

方法

六百二十名日本本科生自我报告了他们主观认为父母在童年时期给予他们的关注程度，并完成了评估寻求支持行为的量表。收集他们的指甲碎片进行基因分型。

结果

结果表明，感知的父母注意力和OPRM1基因型对社会支持寻求的交互作用显着。具体来说，感知到的父母关注只能显着且积极地预测OPRM1 GG 携带者在应对压力时寻求社会支持。

结论

研究结果支持这样的观点，即OPRM1多态性调节早期经历和发育结果之间的关联。