Exploring the role of OXTR gene methylation in attachment development: A longitudinal study

The current study explored longitudinally whether oxytocin receptor gene methylation (OXTRm) changes moderated the association between parental sensitivity changes and children's attachment changes over three waves. Six hundred six Flemish children (10-12 years, 42.8%-44.8% boys) completed attachment measures and provided salivary OXTRm data on seven CpG sites. Their parents reported their sensitive parenting. Results suggest that OXTRm changes hardly link to attachment (in)security changes after the age of 10. Some support was found for interaction effects between parental sensitivity changes and OXTRm changes on attachment changes over time. Effects suggest that for children with increased OXTRm in the promotor region and decreased methylation in the inhibitor region over time, increased parental sensitivity was associated with increased secure attachment and decreased insecure attachment over time.

The intergenerational transmission of attachment during middle childhood in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parent families through assisted reproduction: The mediating role of reflective functioning

The present study examined the attachment patterns distribution of 60 lesbian mothers, 50 gay fathers, and 42 heterosexual parents through assisted reproduction and their 76 children, using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Friends and Family Interview (FFI), respectively. The study also explored the intergenerational transmission of attachment through reflective functioning (AAI-RF). All families lived in Italy and children were aged 6-12 years (Myears = 8.11, SD = 2.17; 48.68% assigned female at birth). The AAI patterns distribution was similar across family types and did not significantly differ from international and national normative data. Similarly, children's FFI attachment patterns were evenly distributed between family types, and no significant differences emerged in comparison to international and national normative data referring to middle childhood samples. Mediational models revealed that, in all three family types, parents with greater AAI coherence of mind exhibited higher AAI-RF, which, in turn, was associated with increased FFI attachment security in children. Furthermore, parents' AAI coherence of mind directly influenced children's FFI attachment security. The results support and expand hypotheses regarding the intergenerational transmission of attachment in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parent families through assisted reproduction, while offering unique indications to support these families during middle childhood.

Parent–Child Attachment and Dynamic Emotion Regulation: A Systematic Review

Although there is evidence parent–child attachment security is associated with trait-like emotion indices, trait perspectives do not fully capture children's responses to context, an important emotion regulation component. This paper evaluates whether attachment is associated with two dynamic emotion indicators: emotion reactivity and emotion recovery. We review conceptual and empirical connections, describe the dynamic emotion perspective, discuss hypotheses, and review evidence. Our review (15 studies) shows that secure attachment was more consistently related to recovery than reactivity, avoidant attachment was related to low emotion reactivity and recovery, ambivalent attachment was associated with greater emotion reactivity, and disorganized attachment was related to high reactivity and recovery difficulties. We close by comparing trait-like and dynamic emotion conclusions then propose future research directions.

A Road Map for Navigating Next Steps in the Study of Attachment in Middle Childhood: Commentary on Gastelle and Kerns

NA