Father absence and trajectories of offspring mental health across adolescence and young adulthood: Findings from a UK-birth cohort

Involvement of Serotonergic Projections from the Dorsal Raphe to the Medial Preoptic Area in the Regulation of the Pup-Directed Paternal Response of Male Mandarin Voles

Male mammals display different paternal responses to pups, either attacking or killing the young offspring, or contrastingly, caring for them. The neural circuit mechanism underlying the between-individual variation in the pup-directed responsiveness of male mammals remains unclear. Monogamous mandarin voles were used to complete the present study. The male individuals were identified as paternal and infanticidal voles, according their behavioral responses to pups. It was found that the serotonin release in the medial preoptic area (MPOA), as well as the serotonergic neuron activity, significantly increased upon licking the pups, but showed no changes after attacking the pups, as revealed by the in vivo fiber photometry of the fluorescence signal from the 5-HT 1.0 sensor and the calcium imaging indicator, respectively. It was verified that the 5-HTergic neural projections to the MPOA originated mainly from the ventral part of the dorsal raphe (vDR). Furthermore, the chemogenetic inhibition of serotonergic projections from the vDR to the MPOA decreased the paternal behaviors and shortened the latency to attack the pups. In contrast, the activation of serotonergic neurons via optogenetics extended the licking duration and inhibited infanticide. Collectively, these results elucidate that the serotonergic projections from the vDR to the MPOA, a previously unrecognized pathway, regulate the paternal responses of virgin male mandarin voles to pups.

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and children ALSPAC G0 Partners: A cohort profile

ALSPAC is an ongoing population-based, observational study designed to investigate how genetic/environmental characteristics might influence the health/development of children and their parents. It has evolved to facilitate the measurement of many outcomes in the parental cohort. Pregnant women resident in Bristol, UK with expected dates of delivery between April 1991-December 1992 were eligible. 14,541 pregnancies were originally enrolled. Partners of the pregnant women were initially invited to take part by the women with formal enrolment of individuals since 2010. Data has been collected from 12,113 partners, with 3,807 formally enrolled. Data collected to date: 21 questionnaires, clinical follow up in 2012 (mean age: 53 years) and a family-based clinical follow-up currently ongoing (mean age: 63 years). Questionnaires asked about a wide range of environmental measures, physical/mental health and other phenotypic details including six questionnaires throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical measures include anthropometrics, blood pressure, body composition, cardiovascular health and a fasting blood sample. DNA has been extracted with genome-wide data available on >3,000 partners and exomes on ~1500 trios. The data contributes to one of the most deeply phenotyped birth cohorts in the world, providing trios of data and multi-generational information, and is fully accessible through a managed access process.

Fathers' presence and adolescents' interpersonal relationship quality: Moderated mediation model

Introduction

Most previous studies focused on the effects of fathers' presence on adolescent development, but rarely examined the mechanisms underlying the presence of fathers on adolescent development. Moreover, previous studies ignored the impact of fathers' way of being present on adolescent interpersonal relationships. Based on social identity theory, the present study introduced adolescents' social responsibility as a mediating variable to explore the influence of father's presence style on adolescents' interpersonal. This study examined the mechanism of fathers' way of being present on father's presence, adolescents' social responsibility, and their quality of interpersonal relationships; if fathers adopt a democratic approach to be present, the study examines whether teenagers are more likely to enhance their sense of social responsibility and achieve harmonious interpersonal relationships.

Methods

Participants were 1,942 senior high school and college students who responded to the Fatherhood Questionnaire, Social Responsibility Questionnaire, and Interpersonal Relationship Quality Diagnosis Scale. This study used PROCESS macro of SPSS 24.0 and Amos 26.0 to examine the hypotheses.

Results

Empirical results demonstrated that (a) fathers' presence is directly and positively related to adolescents' social responsibility, (b) fathers' presence is indirectly and positively related to the quality of adolescents' interpersonal relationships through social responsibility, and (c) parenting styles played a moderating role in the first half of the fathers' presence on social responsibility and the quality of interpersonal relationships. Results demonstrated that more harmonious interpersonal relationships were present among teenagers when fathers adopted a democratic upbringing, and this interaction effect on interpersonal relationships was mediated by teenagers' sense of social responsibility.

Discussion

The findings of this study enrich the literature by exploring the significance of emphasizing fathers' democratic presence on teenagers' sense of social responsibility and interpersonal relationships. The practical implications of this study are that society should encourage more fathers to be present and guide them to adopt a democratic parenting style that will benefit adolescents' development and family well-being.

Mitigating the impact of adolescence isolation on the development of social anxiety: A potential role for oxytocin

Exposure to isolation can lead to the development of social anxiety disorder (SAD), which affects 13% of Americans. There are sex differences in the prevalence of anxiety disorders, as women experience higher rates of SAD relative to men. Importantly, isolation experienced during adolescence increases the likelihood of developing SAD in adulthood. Unfortunately, the current treatments for SAD are only effective in 50–65% of patients. As such, it is critical to identify therapeutic targets for the treatment and prevention of SAD, particularly in women. Here, we discuss the links between childhood isolation and adulthood SAD. Next, we examine the preclinical models used to study the impact of isolation on social anxiety-like behaviors in rodents. Increasing evidence from both clinical and pre-clinical studies suggests oxytocin signaling is a potential target to modify social anxiety-like behaviors. We present the evidence that sex hormones influence the oxytocin system. Finally, we highlight future directions for both clinical and pre-clinical studies to further evaluate the efficacy of oxytocin as a treatment for isolation-induced SAD.