Pathways linking childhood trauma to rural, unmarried, African American father involvement through oxytocin receptor gene methylation.

ABSTRACT: Father involvement contributes uniquely to children's developmental outcomes. The antecedents of father involvement among unmarried, African American fathers from rural areas, however, have been largely overlooked. The present study tested a conceptual model linking retrospective reports of childhood trauma and early adulthood social instability to father involvement among unmarried, African American men living in resource-poor, rural communities in the southeastern United States. We hypothesized these factors would influence father involvement indirectly, via DNA methylation of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). A sample of 192 fathers participated in 3 waves of data collection in early adulthood. Fathers reported on social instability at Wave 1; OXTR methylation was assessed via saliva s

SUBMITTER: Brown GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7893786 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature