DRD4 interacts with adverse life events in predicting maternal sensitivity via emotion regulation.

We examined whether and how the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) interacts with adverse life events to predict maternal sensitivity directly and indirectly via emotion regulation. The sample included 209 (106 European American, 103 African American) mothers and their children (52% female). Sensitive maternal behavior was rated and aggregated across five stress-free and stress-inducing tasks when children were about 2 years old, when mothers also retrospectively reported on their adverse life experiences and transitions throughout childhood from birth to age 20. When children were about 1 year old, mothers reported on their difficulties with emotion regulation. Results from path analysis indicated that mothers who carried the long allele of DRD4