Cited by 82Epigenetics and DNA MethylationMaternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumBirth, Development, and Health

The early care environment and DNA methylome variation in childhood

Open access
Garg, Elika, Chen, Li, Nguyen, Thao T. T., Pokhvisneva, Irina, Chen, Lawrence M., Unternaehrer, Eva, MacIsaac, Julia L., McEwen, Lisa M. +14 more·2018·Development and Psychopathology

Abstract

Prenatal adversity shapes child neurodevelopment and risk for later mental health problems. The quality of the early care environment can buffer some of the negative effects of prenatal adversity on child development. Retrospective studies, in adult samples, highlight epigenetic modifications as sentinel markers of the quality of the early care environment; however, comparable data from pediatric cohorts are lacking. Participants were drawn from the Maternal Adversity Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment (MAVAN) study, a longitudinal cohort with measures of infant attachment, infant development, and child mental health. Children provided buccal epithelial samples (mean age = 6.99, SD = 1.33 years, n = 226), which were used for analyses of genome-wide DNA methylation and genetic variation. We used a series of linear models to describe the association between infant attachment and (a) measures of child outcome and (b) DNA methylation across the genome. Paired genetic data was used to determine the genetic contribution to DNA methylation at attachment-associated sites. Infant attachment style was associated with infant cognitive development (Mental Development Index) and behavior (Behavior Rating Scale) assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 36 months. Infant attachment style moderated the effects of prenatal adversity on Behavior Rating Scale scores at 36 months. Infant attachment was also significantly associated with a principal component that accounted for 11.9% of the variation in genome-wide DNA methylation. These effects were most apparent when comparing children with a secure versus a disorganized attachment style and most pronounced in females. The availability of paired genetic data revealed that DNA methylation at approximately half of all infant attachment-associated sites was best explained by considering both infant attachment and child genetic variation. This study provides further evidence that infant attachment can buffer some of the negative effects of early adversity on measures of infant behavior. We also highlight the interplay between infant attachment and child genotype in shaping variation in DNA methylation. Such findings provide preliminary evidence for a molecular signature of infant attachment and may help inform attachment-focused early intervention programs.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s0954579418000627

Cites

84 of 84 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Secure attachment as compared to disorganized attachment in human infants accounted for 11.9% of the variation in genome-wide DNA methylation, which might contribute to differential resilience against mental disorders.

    “secure attachment as compared to disorganized attachment in human infants accounted for 11.9% of the variation in genome-wide DNA methylation, which might contribute to differential resilience against mental disorders (Garg et al., 2018).”

    From The applied implications of epigenetics in anxiety, affective and stress-related disorders - A review and synthesis on psychosocial stress, psychotherapy and prevention (2020) · cites this paper as Garg et al., 2018

    The Abstract and Figure 2 caption report that infant attachment was associated with a principal component accounting for 11.9% of variation in DNA methylation; they do not say that the secure-versus-disorganized comparison itself explained 11.9%. The Abstract says that comparison was where the effects were most apparent. The Discussion suggests attachment security may buffer adversity in child outcomes, but does not establish that the methylation difference contributes to resilience against mental disorders. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Garg, E., Chen, L., Nguyen, T. T. T., Pokhvisneva, I., Chen, L. M., Unternaehrer, E., MacIsaac, J. L., McEwen, L. M., Mah, S. M., Gaudreau, H., Levitan, R., Moss, E., Sokolowski, M. B., Kennedy, J. L., Steiner, M. S., Meaney, M. J., Holbrook, J. D., Silveira, P. P., Karnani, N., Kobor, M. S., O'Donnell, K. J., & Mavan Study Team
Affiliations
  • McGill University (CA)
  • Agency for Science, Technology and Research (SG)
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
  • Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CA)
  • Université du Québec à Montréal (CA)
  • Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CA)
  • McMaster University (CA)
Venue
Development and Psychopathology
Published
2018-08
Volume
30
Issue
3
Pages
891-903
ISSN
  • 0954-5794 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-2198
OpenAlex
W2886293072
Cited by
82
References
84
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 7
FWCI
4.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Development and Psychopathology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
  • KOPS (University of Konstanz) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Fondation Brain Canada
  • Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
Keywords
infant attachment, DNA methylation, prenatal adversity, epigenetics, child mental health, infant cognitive development, disorganized attachment, secure attachment, genetic variation, child behavior, sex differences
MeSH terms
Child, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Cognition, Family, Female, Genotype, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Object Attachment, Retrospective Studies, Social Environment, DNA Methylation

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review