title: Genetic mechanisms of parenting.
abstract: This article is part of a Special Issue "Parental Care". The complexities of parenting behavior in humans have been studied for decades. Only recently did we begin to probe the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying these complexities. Much of the research in this field continues to be informed by animal studies, where genetic manipulations and invasive tools allow to peek into and directly observe the brain during the expression of maternal behavior. In humans, studies of adult twins who are parents can suggest dimensions of parenting that might be more amenable to a genetic influence. Candidate gene studies can test specific genes in association with parental behavior based on prior knowledge of those genes' function. Gene-by-environment interactions of a specific kind indicating differential susceptibility to the environment might explain why some parents are more resilient and others are more vulnerable to stressful life events. Epigenetic studies can provide the bridge often necessary to explain why some individuals behave differently from others despite common genetic influences. There is a much-needed expansion in parenting research to include not only mothers as the focus-as has been the case almost exclusively to date-but also fathers, grandparents, and other caregivers.
authors.affiliation: Center for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, PO Box 2060, 3000 CB Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: viara.mileva@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Viara R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Mileva-Seitz
authors.affiliation: Center for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marian J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Bakermans-Kranenburg
authors.affiliation: Center for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands; School of Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marinus H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: van IJzendoorn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004777:Environment; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D009035:Mothers; D016487:Parenting; D014427:Twins
keywords: Candidate genes; Differential susceptibility; Epigenetics; Genetic mechanisms; Gene–environment interactions; Intergenerational transmission; Maternal behavior; Parenting; Twin studies