Researchers from New York University have revealed the discovery of an "angry mom" gene, or a genetic predisposition to being harsh with one's own children that affects some enviornmentally sensitive mothers, especially during times of economic struggle like the current recession, the Daily Mail reports.
Between 2007 and 2009, just over half of the women studied were found to have the so-called "sensitive" mutation of a gene that regulates mood, known as DRD2, which controls dopamine and emotion in the brain. Scientists find the discovery surprising, as according to Dr. Dohoon Lee who led the study, '"it's commonly thought economic hardship within families leads to stress which - in turn - leads to deterioration of parenting quality."
"These findings show an economic downturn in the larger community can adversely affect parenting - regardless of the conditions individual families face," Lee explained.
Published recently in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new study claims that the effect of the "angry mom" is only found in mothers who carry a version of the DRD2 that makes them more sensitive and reactive to their enviornments. Mothers who had the mutated version of the gene, however, displayed less aggressive parenting when the economy improved as compared to those without it..
"This finding provides further evidence in favor of the orchid-dandelion hypothesis that humans with sensitive genes - like orchids - wilt or die in poor environments but flourish in rich environments whereas dandelions survive in poor and rich environments," Professor Irwin Garfinkel of Columbia University told the Daily Mail.
The NYU research was based on "data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFS) involving almost 5,000 children born in 20 large American cities between 1998 and 2000." Harsh parenting techniques involve yelling, shouting, threats, hitting and slapping, and was measured using ten items from the commonly used Conflict Tactics Scale.
Mothers involved in the study were interviewed shortly after giving birth, as well as when their child was three, five and nine with saliva DNA samples collected from 2,600 mothers and children towards the study's conclusion. Researchers discovered that despite commonly held beliefs, harsh parenting was not linked with high levels of unemployment and, rather, was connected with increases in a city's unemployment rate and declines in national consumer confidence.
Fear of losing one's job is more likely to cause harsh parenting than poor economic conditions or even economic hardship.
"People can adjust to difficult circumstances once they know what to expect - whereas fear or uncertainty about the future is more difficult to deal with," Professor Sara McLanahan, of Princeton University, told the Daily Mail.
Currently researchers are interested in if the response to fear of losing one's job and subsequent harsh parenting varies by genetic make-up.
