Once and Again : History of Rearing Experiences and Psychosocial Parenting Resources at Six Months in Primiparous Mothers.

Animal and human studies suggest that parenting style is transmitted from one generation to the next. The hypotheses of this study were that (1) a mother's rearing experiences (G1) would predict her own parenting resources (G2) and (2) current maternal mood, motivation to care for her offspring, and relationship with her parents would underlie this association. In a subsample of 201 first-time mothers participating in the longitudinal Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment project, we assessed a mother's own childhood maltreatment and rearing experiences (G1) using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Parental Bonding Instrument. At 6 months postpartum, mothers completed questionnaires on parenting stress (G2), symptoms of depression, maternal motivation, and current relationship with their own parents. The sample consisted of mostly high socioeconomic status mothers recruited from Montréal (n = 135) or Hamilton (n = 66), Canada, with an age range from 18 to 43 years (M = 29.41, SD = 4.85 years). More severe maltreatment and less supportive rearing by the mother's parents (G1) predicted increased parenting stress at 6 months (G2). These associations were mediated through distinct psychosocial pathways: maltreatment (G1) on parenting stress (G2) through symptoms of depression (Z = 2.297; p = .022); maternal rearing (G1) on parenting stress (G2) through maternal motivation (Z = -2.155; p = .031) and symptoms of depression (Z = -1.842; p = .065); and paternal rearing (G1) on parenting stress (G2) through current relationship with the father (Z = -2.617; p = .009). Maternal rearing experiences predict a mother's own parenting resources though distinct psychosocial pathways, including depressed mood, maternal motivation, and social support.

Dissecting maternal care: Patterns of maternal parenting in a prospective cohort study.

Parental care has a strong impact on neurodevelopment and mental health in the offspring. Although numerous animal studies have revealed that the parental brain is a highly complex system involving many brain structures and neuroendocrine systems, human maternal parenting as a multidimensional construct with cognitive, emotional, and behavioural components has not been characterised comprehensively. This unique multi-method analysis aimed to examine patterns of self-reported and observed parenting from 6 to 60 months postpartum in a cohort of 496 mothers (mean maternal age = 32 years). Self-report questionnaires assessed motivational components of mothering, parenting stress, parenting-related mood, maternal investment, maternal parenting style, mother-child relationship satisfaction, and mother-child bonding at multiple time points. Observed parenting variables included the Ainsworth Sensitivity Scales at 6 and 18 months, the Behavioral Evaluation Strategies Taxonomies at 6 months, an Etch-A-Sketch cooperation task at 48 months, and the Parent-Child Early Relationship Assessment at 60 months. To examine whether different latent constructs underlie these measures of maternal parenting, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis. Self-report measures of parenting correlated only weakly with behavioural observations. Factor analysis on a subsample (n = 197) revealed four latent factors that each explained from 7% to 11% of the variance in the data (32% total variance explained). Based on the loadings of the instruments, the factors were interpreted as: Supportive Parenting, Self-Enjoyment Parenting, Overwhelmed Parenting, and Affectionate Parenting. These factor scores showed specific associations with maternal education and depressive symptoms, as well as with child outcomes, including maternally reported internalising and externalising behavioural problems, school readiness, and child-reported symptoms of mental health. These findings parallel the complexity of the parental brain, suggesting that maternal parenting consists of multiple components, each of which is associated with different maternal characteristics and child outcomes.

Epigenetic Regulation of the Kappa Opioid Receptor by Child Abuse.

BACKGROUND: Experiences of abuse and neglect during childhood are major predictors of the emergence of depressive and suicidal behaviors throughout life. The underlying biological mechanisms, however, remain poorly understood. Here, we focused on the opioid system as a potential brain substrate mediating these effects. METHODS: Postmortem samples from three brain structures regulating social bonds and emotions were analyzed. Groups were constituted of depressed individuals who died by suicide, with or without a history of severe child abuse, and of psychiatrically healthy control subjects. Expression of opioid peptides and receptors was measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction. DNA methylation, a major epigenetic mark, was investigated using targeted bisulfite sequencing and characterized at functional level using in vitro reporter assays. Finally, oxidative bisulfite sequencing was used to differentiate methylation and hydroxymethylation of DNA. RESULTS: A history of child abuse specifically associated in the anterior insula with a downregulation of the kappa opioid receptor (Kappa), as well as decreased DNA methylation in the second intron of the Kappa gene. In vitro assays further showed that this intron functions as a genomic enhancer where glucocorticoid receptor binding regulates Kappa expression, unraveling a new mechanism mediating the well-established interactions between endogenous opioids and stress. Finally, results showed that child abuse is associated in the Kappa intron with a selective reduction in levels of DNA hydroxymethylation, likely mediating the observed downregulation of the receptor. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, our findings uncover new facets of Kappa physiology, whereby this receptor may be epigenetically regulated by stressful experiences, in particular as a function of early social life.

Maternal care associates with differences in morphological complexity in the medial preoptic area.

The medial preoptic area (MPOA) is implicated in the expression of maternal behavior including the frequency of pup licking/grooming (LG) in the rat. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) responsive element-binding protein (CREB) is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of many genes. We found that lactating rats that are more maternal towards their pups showing increased licking/grooming (i.e. high-LG mothers) had increased levels of phosphorylated CREB (pCREB) in the MPOA following a nursing bout and they displayed a reduced population of greater dendritic complexity index (DCI) neurons compared to less maternal rats showing decreased licking/grooming (i.e. low-LG mothers). CREB overexpression in MPOA neuronal cultures associated with a decrease in dendritic complexity and an increase in the expression of Rem2 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), genes implicated in dendritic pruning. While there were no differences in Rem2 expression in virgin high and low-LG female rats, Rem2 was significantly increased in the MPOA of high-LG compared to low-LG lactating rats. CREB activity in the MPOA associates with maternal behavior and reduced dendritic complexity possibly by increasing Rem2 expression.

Maternal licking regulates hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor transcription through a thyroid hormone-serotonin-NGFI-A signalling cascade.

Variations in parental care direct phenotypic development across many species. Variations in maternal pup licking/grooming (LG) in the rat regulate the development of individual differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal responses to stress. The adult offspring of mothers that show an increased frequency of pup LG have increased hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression and more modest pituitary-adrenal responses to stress. This parental effect is mediated by the epigenetic programming of a GR exon 1 promoter (exon 1(7)) through the binding of the transcription factor nerve growth factor-inducible factor A (NGFI-A). In this paper, we report that: (i) the association of NGFI-A with the exon 1(7) GR promoter is dynamically regulated by mother-pup interactions; (ii) this effect is mimicked by artificial tactile stimulation comparable to that provided by pup LG; (iii) that serotonin (5-HT) induces an NGFI-A-dependent increase in GR transcription in hippocampal neurons and NGFI-A overexpression is sufficient for this effect; and (iv) that thyroid hormones and 5-HT are key mediators of the effects of pup LG and tactile stimulation on NGFI-A binding to the exon 1(7) GR promoter in hippocampus. These findings suggest that pup LG directly activates 5-HT systems to initiate intracellular signalling pathways in the hippocampus that regulate GR transcription.