Predicting the use of corporal punishment: Child aggression, parent religiosity, and the BDNF gene

Abstract

Corporal punishment (CP) has been associated with deleterious child outcomes, highlighting the importance of understanding its underpinnings. Although several factors have been linked with parents' CP use, genetic influences on CP have rarely been studied, and an integrative view examining the interplay between different predictors of CP is missing. We focused on the separate and joint effects of religiosity, child aggression, parent's gender, and a valine (Val) to methionine (Met) substitution in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. Data came from a twin sample (51% male, aged 6.5 years). We used mothers' and fathers' self-reports of CP and religiosity, and the other parent's report on child aggression. Complete data were available for 244 mothers and their 466 children, and for 217 fathers and their 409 children. The random split method was employed to examine replicability. For mothers, only the effect of religiosity appeared to replicate. For fathers, several effects predicting CP use replicated in both samples: child aggression, child sex, religiosity, and a three-way (GxExE) interaction implicating fathers' BDNF genotype, child aggression and religiosity. Religious fathers who carried the Met allele and had an aggressive child used CP more frequently; in contrast, secular fathers' CP use was not affected by their BDNF genotype or child aggression. Results were also repeated longitudinally in a subsample with age 8-9 data. Findings highlight the utility of a bio-ecological approach for studying CP use by shedding light on pertinent gene-environment interaction processes. Possible implications for intervention and public policy are discussed.

Religiosity as a moderator of the links between parental psychological control and children's prosociality

“…For example, in a sample of Chinese adolescents, prosocial behavior toward strangers predicted greater paternal psychological control a year later (Fu & Zhang, 2020). Moreover, children's aggressive behavior predicted greater guilt induction from mothers of Chinese American preschoolers (Yu et al, 2019), and greater use of physical discipline among religious, but not secular, Jewish Israeli fathers (Avinun et al, 2018). Parent effects of psychological control on subsequent prosociality have also been observed (e.g., Fu & Zhang, 2020).…”

The E Is in the G: Gene–Environment–Trait Correlations and Findings From Genome-Wide Association Studies

“…3b). The use of corporal punishment by parents has been associated with depression, aggression, delinquent and antisocial behavior, and alcohol abuse in children (Gershoff, 2002), and studies have shown that it is affected by children’s genetically influenced tendencies; that is, evocative rGE processes are at play (Avinun, Davidov, Mankuta, & Knafo-Noam, 2018; Jaffee et al, 2004). Specifically, parents may use corporal punishment more with more aggressive children (Jaffee et al, 2004).…”

“…For example, the environment can moderate rGEs. A child’s aggressive behavior may evoke the use of corporal punishment by parents, but whether or not it will do so depends on context, such as culture (Avinun et al, 2018). Genetic correlations between phenotypes can also be moderated by the environment.…”

The Longitudinal Israeli Study of Twins (LIST) Reaches Adolescence: Genetic and Environmental Pathways to Social, Personality and Moral Development

“…Finally, to add to the complexity of the parenting-genes-child behavior network, two reports from LIST found that fathers' (but not mothers') parenting was predicted by an interaction between the val-met polymorphism in the BDNF gene and children's prosocial or aggressive behavior. The importance of children's behavior was exemplified by within-family twin comparisons such that Met carrier fathers differentiated more strongly between their children based on the child's behaviors (Avinun & Knafo-Noam, 2017;Avinun et al, 2018).…”