About
Among different aspects of social emotional development, attachment-disordered behaviors (ADB), predictors of later psychopathology, are of particular interest, given its emergence in relational harmful contexts, such is children’s institutionalization, still occurring in many countries in Europe. Extensive research on developmental psychopathology highlights the interaction between genetic and contextual factors (GXE) in illuminating the determinants of typical and atypical development. However, in the case of ADB no consistent results emerged among studies, including our own research, which seeks a new approach to this phenomenon.
The present proposal intent to extend our previous research focused on GXE approaches and explore how early life experiences “get under the skin”. We will look at the dynamic interplay between genes and environment, a process called epigenetic, as well as at the meditational role of neural activity. Several questions will be addressed in this project: a) Is the epigenetic profile of children reared in institutions different from those reared with biological parents? b) Is quality of care within the institution associated with different epigenetic patterns? c)Is the epigenome associated with the emergence of attachment ADB? d) Is neural activity a crucial mediator between epigenome and ADB? Identifying pre and current institutional relevant factors as well as specific genetic markers, will likely contribute to a deeper understanding how quality of care act upon genetic function endeavor future target interventions with these children.
