AUTHOR=Chen Frances S., Barth Maria , Johnson Stephen L., Gotlib Ian H., Johnson Susan C.

TITLE=Oxytocin Receptor (OXTR) Polymorphisms and Attachment in Human Infants

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2011

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00200

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00200

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Ordinary variations in human infants’ attachment behaviors – their proclivity to seek and accept comfort from caregivers – are associated with a wide range of individual differences in psychological functioning in adults. The current investigation examined variation in the oxytocin receptor (<italic>OXTR</italic>) gene as one possible source of these variations in infant attachment. One hundred seventy-six infants (77 Caucasian, 99 non-Caucasian) were classified as securely or insecurely attached based on their behavior in the Strange Situation (Ainsworth et al., <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="B1">1978</xref>). The A allele of <italic>OXTR</italic> rs2254298 was associated with attachment security in the non-Caucasian infants (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.005). These findings underscore the importance of oxytocin in the development of human social behavior and support its role in social stress-regulation and the development of trust.</p>