The Association Between Breastfeeding Exposure and Duration, Neuropsychological Deficits, and Psychopathic Personality Traits in Offspring: The Moderating Role of 5HTTLPR

Abstract

A wealth of research has revealed that a shorter duration of breastfeeding during infancy can increase the risk of various maladaptive traits, including neuropsychological deficits. Despite the number of studies that have been conducted on the topic, few studies have explored whether the effects of breastfeeding on neuropsychological functioning and personality features persist into adulthood. Furthermore, very little research to date has examined whether this relationship is moderated by specific indicators of genetic risk. The current study examines the direct and interactive effects of breastfeeding experiences and the serotonin transporter polymorphism (5HTTLPR) on neuropsychological deficits and psychopathic personality traits. Using data from the National Longitudinal study of Adolescent Health, we find that no exposure to breastfeeding and a shorter duration of breastfeeding significantly increase the risk of exhibiting neuropsychological deficits during adolescence and early adulthood as well as psychopathic personality traits during adulthood. The results also reveal a number of gene × environment interactions between 5HTTLPR, breastfeeding exposure and breastfeeding duration in the prediction of neuropsychological deficits, but not in the prediction of psychopathic personality traits.

Brain activity, low self-control, and delinquency: An fMRI study of at-risk adolescents

“…Supporting the view that there is a neural basis to self-control, multiple studies report a positive association between neuropsychological deficits and low self-control (e.g., Cauffman et al, 2005; Jackson & Beaver, 2013; Ratchford & Beaver, 2009). Related strands of research also provide evidence that neuropsychological deficits are associated with broad measures of antisocial behavior (e.g., Beaver et al, 2012; Jackson, 2017; Jackson & Beaver, 2016; Jackson & Newsome, 2016; Vaske, Newsome, & Boisvert, 2013).…”

Being unwanted and other very early predictors of adult psychopathy

“…In other words, the roots of psychopathy might be better understood and assessed by looking at a person's early experiences with primary attachment figures. Early experiences of childhood rejection from caregivers could lead to aggression and hostility in adulthood (Leary et al, 2006) and are also likely to shape later life outcomes and psychopathic traits (Bowlby, 1952;Barker et al, 2011;Jackson and Beaver, 2016;Kochanska and Kim, 2013;van der Zouwen et al, 2018). Dutton et al (1996), studying the characteristics of male abusive personality, found that paternal rejection was the strongest predictor of an abusive personality.…”

“…maternal depression, low marital support, socio-economic adversities) significantly increased the odds of a high-stable trajectory of psychopathy or the exacerbation of psychopathic traits across childhood. Jackson and Beaver (2016) analysed data from the National Longitudinal study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) on the potential effect of breast feeding. Add Health was started almost 30 years ago as a large (n = 90,000) US-based prospective longitudinal study.…”

“…Debate is still ongoing as to how psychopathy develops and how it is affected by early life events, as described in a vast literature (Beaver et al , 2012; Bergstrøm and Farrington, 2018; Boduszek et al , 2019; Farrington and Bergstrøm, 2018, 2021; Glenn, 2018; Jackson and Beaver, 2016; Thomson, 2019; Zara and Farrington, 2016), but there is a clear research gap when it comes to the potential role of obstetric and early infancy factors (Thomson, 2019). This is an important gap to address, as the study of these factors may have implications for how we understand the development of psychopathy, bridging our knowledge between biological, psychological and social factors.…”

Early life predictors of callous‐unemotional and psychopathic traits

“…A few studies have suggested that factors during infancy predict psychopathic traits in adolescence or adulthood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), Jackson and Beaver () found that no exposure to breast‐feeding during infancy and a shorter duration of breast‐feeding significantly increased the risk for psychopathic personality traits in adulthood (ages 24–32) when controlling for sex, race, and SES. Furthermore, neuropsychological deficits (specifically verbal skills) significantly mediated the relationship between exposure to breast‐feeding and psychopathic personality traits in adulthood.…”