Teacher-student relationships and adolescent behavioral engagement and rule-breaking behavior: The moderating role of dopaminergic genes.
This study examined whether the dopamine transporter DAT1 and the dopamine receptor DRD4 genes moderate the effect of student-reported teacher-student relationship affiliation or dissatisfaction on parent-reported adolescent rule-breaking behavior and behavioral engagement. The sample included 1053 adolescents (51% boys, Mage=13.79) from grades 7 to 9. Regression analyses were conducted using Mplus while controlling for multiple testing and nested data. Adolescents who experienced stronger affiliation with their teachers were more engaged in school, whereas greater dissatisfaction predicted more rule-breaking behavior. In addition, a significant gene-environment interaction was found for both genes examined. The link between low teacher-student affiliation and low engagement was more pronounced for DAT1-10R homozygotes. The link between high teacher-student dissatisfaction and more rule-breaking was stronger for DRD4 non-long carriers. Implications for understanding the role of teacher-student relationships in adolescence and suggestions for future research are outlined.
Research Group for School Psychology and Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCAD), University of Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: steven.delaet@ppw.kuleuven.be.
Steven
S
De Laet
Research Group for School Psychology and Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCAD), University of Leuven, Belgium.
Hilde
H
Colpin
Research Group for Parenting and Special Education, University of Leuven, Belgium.
Karla
K
Van Leeuwen
Research Group for Parenting and Special Education, University of Leuven, Belgium.
Wim
W
Van den Noortgate
Research Group for Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, University of Leuven, Belgium.
Stephan
S
Claes
Research Group for School Psychology and Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCAD), University of Leuven, Belgium.
Annelies
A
Janssens
Research Group for School Psychology and Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCAD), University of Leuven, Belgium.
Luc
L
Goossens
Research Group for School Psychology and Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCAD), University of Leuven, Belgium.
Karine
K
Verschueren
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D000066553:Problem Behavior; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4 / Q000235:genetics*; D000070777:School Teachers; D012919:Social Behavior
C493599:DRD4 protein, human; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4
DAT1; DRD4; Dopamine; Gene–environment interaction; School engagement; Teacher–student relationships