The Impact of Harsh Parenting on the Development of Obesity in Adulthood: An Examination of Epigenetic/Gene Expression Mediators Among African American Youth.

ABSTRACT: Objective: We examined the association of prospectively assessed harsh parenting during adolescence with body mass index (BMI) in young adulthood among African American youth. We also assessed the role of methylation of obesity-related genes and gene expression markers of obesity as mediators of this association, providing a pathway for the biological embedding of early harsh parenting and its long-term impact on young adult health. Methods: Hypotheses were tested with a sample of 362 African American youth for whom harsh parenting was assessed at ages 10-15, BMI was assessed at age 10 and 29, and both DNA methylation (DNAm) and gene expression of obesity genes were assessed at age 29. Mediational analyses were conducted using bootstrap methods to generate confidence interval

SUBMITTER: Lei MK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8602565 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature