The Longitudinal Association Between Parent-Child Attachment and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: Moderation by Oxytocin Receptor Polymorphisms

Abstract

Maternal and paternal attachment may relate differently to adolescent depressive symptoms, but the potential contribution of oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to these associations remains unclear. This six-month longitudinal study included 746 seventh- and tenth-grade students (50.7% female) from Guangzhou, China. Parent-child attachment and saliva samples for genotyping were collected at baseline, and depressive symptoms were assessed at follow-up using the CES-D-10. Overall, 48.8% of adolescents screened positive for depressive symptoms. Compared with adolescents below the cutoff, those who screened positive reported lower parental trust/communication and higher alienation (all p < 0.01). In adjusted linear regression models, father-child trust/communication was negatively associated with subsequent depressive symptoms (β = −0.26, p < 0.01), whereas mother-child alienation was positively associated with subsequent depressive symptoms (β = 0.15, p = 0.02). Exploratory moderation analyses showed a nominal rs2254295 × mother-child alienation interaction before correction (β = −0.07, p = 0.046), but this effect did not survive FDR correction. Father-child trust/communication and mother-child alienation showed distinct associations with adolescent depressive symptoms. The possible moderating role of OXTR rs2254295 should be regarded as preliminary and requires replication in larger independent samples.