The interactive effects of parent-child relationship, sensory processing sensitivity, and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.00711

Abstract

Abstract:

The present study investigated the interactive effects of parent-child relationship, sensory processing sensitivity (SPS), and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. A total of 507 preschoolers (M_age = 4.83, SD = 0.90; 236 girls) were recruited through advertisements at two local kindergartens. Saliva samples for DNA extraction were obtained from preschoolers. Their parents completed questionnaires assessing parent-child relationship, children’s SPS, and prosocial behaviors. The results indicated that the three-way interactive effect of parent-child conflict, SPS, and the COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism on prosocial behaviors was significant, that is, Val/Val genotype carriers with high SPS showed significantly more prosocial behaviors under a low level of parent-child conflict and fewer prosocial behaviors under a high level of parent-child conflict. However, there was no difference in prosocial behaviors of Val/Val genotype carriers with low SPS in a high and low-level conflict. These findings signified the different types of sensitivities (temperament and genes) to the family stressful environment may have a multiplicative effect on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors and contributed to a further understanding of children’s prosocial behaviors based on the person × environment approach, especially from the perspective of children’s multiple sensitivities.

Key words: parent-child relationship, sensory processing sensitivity, COMT gene, preschoolers, prosocial behaviors, person × environment interaction

LIU Qianwen, WANG Zhenhong. (2023). The interactive effects of parent-child relationship, sensory processing sensitivity, and the COMT Val158Met polymorphism on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 55(5), 711-725.

Figures/Tables 4

References 48

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Study variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1 Sex	?
2 Age	0.01	?
3 Family SES	?0.02	?0.01	?
4 Parent-child closeness	?0.08	0.09^*	0.02	?
5 Parent-child conflict	0.03	0.02	?0.05	?0.16^***	?
6 SPS	?0.06	?0.01	?0.02	0.13^**	0.01	?
7 COMT gene	0.07	?0.06	?0.04	0.01	?0.04	0.02	?
8 Prosocial behaviors	?0.11^*	0.16^***	?0.09^*	0.35^***	?0.23^***	0.15^**	?0.01	?
M	?	4.83	0.00	43.35	24.92	63.74	?	7.39
SD	?	0.90	2.27	3.70	6.82	7.39	?	1.95

Study variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1 Sex	?
2 Age	0.01	?
3 Family SES	?0.02	?0.01	?
4 Parent-child closeness	?0.08	0.09^*	0.02	?
5 Parent-child conflict	0.03	0.02	?0.05	?0.16^***	?
6 SPS	?0.06	?0.01	?0.02	0.13^**	0.01	?
7 COMT gene	0.07	?0.06	?0.04	0.01	?0.04	0.02	?
8 Prosocial behaviors	?0.11^*	0.16^***	?0.09^*	0.35^***	?0.23^***	0.15^**	?0.01	?
M	?	4.83	0.00	43.35	24.92	63.74	?	7.39
SD	?	0.90	2.27	3.70	6.82	7.39	?	1.95

Predictors	Prosocial behaviors
	b	SE	p	Bootstrap 95% CI
	b	SE	p	Lower	Upper
Step 1 (ΔR²= 0.10)
Sex	?0.21	0.09	0.012	?0.375	?0.043
Age	0.16	0.05	<0.001	0.078	0.252
Family SES	?0.05	0.02	0.018	?0.081	?0.008
Parent-child conflict	?0.23	0.05	<0.001	?0.324	?0.142
Step 2 (ΔR²= 0.10)
Parent-child closeness	0.29	0.04	<0.001	0.206	0.380
SPS	0.11	0.04	0.009	0.027	0.191
COMT Val158Met polymorphism	?0.04	0.08	0.664	?0.192	0.122
Step 3 (ΔR²= 0.01)
Parent-child closeness × SPS	0.06	0.04	0.095	?0.008	0.147
Parent-child closeness × COMT Val158Met polymorphism	0.05	0.09	0.604	?0.131	0.217
SPS × COMT Val158Met polymorphism	0.01	0.09	0.922	?0.163	0.181
Step 4 (ΔR²= 0.001)
Parent-child closeness × SPS × COMT Val158Met polymorphism	0.06	0.08	0.412	?0.113	0.211

Predictors	Prosocial behaviors
	b	SE	p	Bootstrap 95% CI
	b	SE	p	Lower	Upper
Step 1 (ΔR²= 0.10)
Sex	?0.21	0.09	0.012	?0.375	?0.043
Age	0.16	0.05	<0.001	0.078	0.252
Family SES	?0.05	0.02	0.018	?0.081	?0.008
Parent-child conflict	?0.23	0.05	<0.001	?0.324	?0.142
Step 2 (ΔR²= 0.10)
Parent-child closeness	0.29	0.04	<0.001	0.206	0.380
SPS	0.11	0.04	0.009	0.027	0.191
COMT Val158Met polymorphism	?0.04	0.08	0.664	?0.192	0.122
Step 3 (ΔR²= 0.01)
Parent-child closeness × SPS	0.06	0.04	0.095	?0.008	0.147
Parent-child closeness × COMT Val158Met polymorphism	0.05	0.09	0.604	?0.131	0.217
SPS × COMT Val158Met polymorphism	0.01	0.09	0.922	?0.163	0.181
Step 4 (ΔR²= 0.001)
Parent-child closeness × SPS × COMT Val158Met polymorphism	0.06	0.08	0.412	?0.113	0.211

Predictors	Prosocial behaviors
	b	SE	p			Bootstrap 95% CI
	b	SE	p			Lower	Upper
Step 1 (ΔR²= 0.16)
Sex	?0.17	0.08		0.041	?0.328		?0.008
Age	0.13	0.04		0.002	0.047		0.213
Family SES	?0.04	0.02		0.013	?0.075		?0.009
Parent-child closeness	0.34	0.04		<0.001	0.253		0.421
Step 2 (ΔR²= 0.05)
Parent-child conflict	?0.19	0.04		<0.001	?0.272		?0.102
SPS	0.11	0.04		0.010	0.026		0.193
COMT Val158Met polymorphism	?0.04	0.08		0.660	?0.191		0.126
Step 3 (ΔR²= 0.01)
Parent-child conflict × SPS	?0.06	0.04		0.200	?0.144		0.024
Parent-child conflict × COMT Val158Met polymorphism	?0.11	0.09		0.213	?0.287		0.066
SPS × COMT Val158Met polymorphism	0.01	0.08		0.953	?0.156		0.171
Step 4 (ΔR²= 0.02)
Parent-child conflict × SPS × COMT Val158Met polymorphism	?0.24	0.08		0.003	?0.399		?0.076