Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T04:09:57.930Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Genetic moderation of effects of maternal sensitivity on girl's age of menarche: Replication of the Manuck et al. study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2014

Sarah Hartman ,
Keith F. Widaman  and
Jay Belsky
Sarah Hartman
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Keith F. Widaman
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Jay Belsky*
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Jay Belsky, Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, 1331 Hart Hall, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616; E-mail: jbelsky@ucdavis.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Manuck, Craig, Flory, Halder, and Ferrell (2011) reported that a theoretically anticipated effect of family rearing on girls' menarcheal age was genetically moderated by two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the estrogen receptor-α gene. We sought to replicate and extend these findings, studying 210 White females followed from birth. The replication was general because a different measure of the rearing environment was used in this inquiry (i.e., maternal sensitivity) than in the prior one (i.e., family cohesion). Extensions of the work included prospective rather than retrospective measurements of the rearing environment, reports of first menstruation within a year of its occurrence rather than decades later, accounting for some heritability of menarcheal age by controlling for maternal age of menarche, and using a new model-fitting approach to competitively compare diathesis–stress versus differential-susceptibility models of Gene × Environment interaction. The replication/extension effort proved successful in the case of both estrogen receptor-α SNPs, with the Gene × Environment interactions principally reflecting diathesis–stress: lower levels of maternal sensitivity predicted earlier age of menarche for girls homozygous for the minor alleles of either SNP but not for girls carrying other genotypes. Results are discussed in light of the new analytic methods adopted.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , August 2015 , pp. 747 - 756
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Belsky, J. (1997). Variation in susceptibility to environmental influence: An evolutionary argument. Psychological Inquiry, 8, 182–186. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/619099479?accountid=14505CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J. (2000). Conditional and alternative reproductive strategies: Individual differences in susceptibility to rearing experience. In Rodgers, J., Rowe, D., & Miller, W. (Eds.), Genetic influences on human fertility and sexuality: Theoretical and empirical contributions from the biological and behavioral sciences (pp. 127–146). Boston: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J. (2005). Differential susceptibility to rearing influence: An evolutionary hypothesis and some evidence. In Ellis, B. & Bjorklund, D. (Eds.), Origins of the social mind: Evolutionary psychology and child development (pp. 139–163). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Belsky, J. (2012). The development of human reproductive strategies: Progress and prospects. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 310–316. doi:10.1177/0963721412453588CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., & van Ijzendoorn, M. (2007). For better and for worse: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 305–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., & Pluess, M. (2009). Beyond diathesis–stress: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 885–908. doi:10.1037/a00173761988314110.1037/a00173762009-19763-005CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belsky, J., & Pluess, M. (2013). Beyond risk, resilience and dysregulation: Phenotypic plasticity and human development. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 1243–1261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belsky, J., Pluess, M., & Widaman, K. F. (2013). Confirmatory and comparative testing of alternative gene–environment interaction hypotheses. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54, 1135–1143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L. D., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62, 647–670. doi:1992-05035-00110.2307/1131166CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., Houts, R., Friedman, S. L., DeHart, G., Cauffman, E., et al. (2007). Family rearing antecedents of pubertal timing. Child Development, 78, 1302–1321. doi:2007-11790-01710.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01067CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., Houts, R. M., & Halpern-Felsher, B. (2010). The development of reproductive strategy in females: Early maternal harshness → earlier menarche → increased sexual risk taking. Developmental Psychology, 46, 120–128. doi:10.1037/a0015549CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyce, W. T., & Ellis, B. J. (2005). Biological sensitivity to context: An evolutionary-developmental theory of the origins and functions of stress reactivity. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 271–301. doi:1676154610.1017/S09545794050501452005-05658-001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bratberg, G. H., Nilsen, T. I., Holmen, T. L., & Vatten, L. J. (2007). Early sexual maturation, central adiposity and subsequent overweight in late adolescence. A four-year follow-up of 1,605 adolescent Norwegian boys and girls: The Young HUNT study. BMC Public Health, 12, 54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costello, E. J., Sung, M., Worthman, C., & Angold, A. (2007). Pubertal maturation and the development of alcohol use and abuse. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 88(Suppl. 1), S50–S59. doi:2007-03095-00610.1016/j.drugalcdep.2006.12.009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deardorff, J., Gonzales, N. A., Christopher, F. S., Roosa, M. W., & Millsap, R. E. (2005). Early puberty and adolescent pregnancy: The influence of alcohol use. Pediatrics, 116, 1451–1456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deardorff, J., Hayward, C., Wilson, K. A., Bryson, S., Hammer, L. D., & Agras, S. (2007). Puberty and gender interact to predict social anxiety symptoms in early adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41, 102–104. doi:2007-09289 01510.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.02.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dick, D. M., Rose, R. J., Kaprio, J., & Viken, R. J. (2000). Pubertal timing and substance use: Associations between and within families across late adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 36, 180–189. doi:2000-13792-00410.1037/0012-1649.36.2.180CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DiVall, S. A., & Radovick, S. (2008). Pubertal development and menarche. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1135, 19–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DiVall, S. A., & Radovick, S. (2009). Endocrinology of female puberty. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity, 16, 1–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J. (2004). Timing of pubertal maturation in girls: An integrated life history approach. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 920–958. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.6.920CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J., Boyce, W. T., Belsky, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2011). Differential susceptibility to the environment: A neurodevelopmental theory. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 7–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, B. J., McFadyen-Ketchum, S., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1999). Quality of early family relationships and individual differences in the timing of pubertal maturation in girls: A longitudinal test of an evolutionary model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 387–401. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.2.387CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J., Shirtcliff, E. A., Boyce, W., Deardorff, J., & Essex, M. J. (2011). Quality of early family relationships and the timing and tempo of puberty: Effects depend on biological sensitivity to context. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 85–99. doi:10.1017/S0954579410000660CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ge, X., Conger, R. D., & Elder, G. H. (2001). Pubertal transition, stressful life events, and the emergence of gender differences in adolescent depressive symptoms. Developmental Psychology, 37, 404–417. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.37.3.404CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, J., & Ellis, B. J. (in press). The development of human reproductive strategies: Toward an integration of life history and sexual selection models. In Simpson, J. A. & Campbell, L. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of close relationships. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kelsey, J. L., Gammon, M. D., & John, E. M. (1993). Reproductive factors and breast cancer. Epidemiologic Reviews, 15, 36–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lakshman, R., Forouhi, N. G., Sharp, S. J., Luben, R., Bingham, S. A., Khaw, K. T., et al. (2009). Early age at menarche associated with cardiovascular disease and mortality. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 94, 4953–5960. doi:10.1210/jc.2009-1789CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manuck, S. B., Craig, A. E., Flory, J. D., Halder, I., & Ferrell, R. E. (2011). Reported early family environment covaries with menarcheal age as a function of polymorphic variation in estrogen receptor-α gene. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 69–83. doi:2126204010.1017/S09545794100006592011-02389-006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendle, J., Harden, K. P., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Graber, J. A. (2010). Development's tortoise and hare: Pubertal timing, pubertal tempo, and depressive symptoms in boys and girls. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1341–1353. doi:10.1037/a0020205CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Belsky, J., & Silva, P. A. (1992). Childhood experience and the onset of menarche: A test of a sociobiological model. Child Development, 63, 47–58. doi:10.2307/1130900CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Must, A., Phillips, S. M., Naumova, E. N., Blum, M., Harris, S., Dawson-Hughes, B., et al. (2002). Recall of early menstrual history and menarcheal body size: After 30 years, how well do women remember? American Journal of Epidemiology, 155, 672–679. doi:10.1093/aje/155.7.672CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (Ed.). (2005). Child care and child development: Results of the NICHD study of early child care and youth development. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Pesonen, A.-K., Räikkönen, K., Heinonen, K., Kajantie, E., Forsén, T., & Eriksson, J. G. (2008). Reproductive traits following a parent–child separation trauma during childhood: A natural experiment during World War II. American Journal of Human Biology, 20, 345–351. doi:10.1002/ajhb.20735CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rowe, D. C. (2000). Environmental and genetic influences on pubertal development: Evolutionary life history traits. In Rodgers, J. L., Rowe, D. C., & Miller, W. B. (Eds.), Genetic influences on human fertility and sexuality: Theoretical and empirical contributions from the biological and behavioral sciences (pp. 147–168). New York: Kluwer Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saxbe, D. E., & Repetti, R. L. (2009). Brief report: Fathers' and mothers' marital relationship predicts daughters' pubertal development two years later. Journal of Adolescence, 32, 415–423. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2008.06.009CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steinberg, L. (1987). Impact of puberty on family relations: Effects of pubertal status and pubertal timing. Developmental Psychology, 23, 451–460. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.23.3.451CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tither, J. M., & Ellis, J. B. (2008). Impact of fathers' on daughters' age of menarche: A genetically and environmentally controlled sibling study. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1409–1420. doi:2008-12114-01910.1037/a0013065CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vo, C., & Carney, M. (2007). Ovarian cancer hormonal and environmental risk effect. Obstetrics and Gynecological Clinics of North America, 34, 687–700.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Widaman, K. F., Helm, J. L., Castro-Schilo, L., Pluess, M., Stallings, M. C., & Belsky, J. (2012). Distinguishing ordinal and disordinal interactions. Psychological Methods, 17, 615–622. doi:10.1037/a0030003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wise, L. A., Palmer, J. R., Rothman, E. F., & Rosenberg, L. (2009). Childhood abuse and early menarche: Findings from the Black Women's Health Study. American Journal of Public Health, 99(Suppl. 2), S460–S466.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed