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Parental Psychological Control, the Parent–Adolescent Relationship, and Non-suicidal Self-Injury Among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Effect of the Oxytocin Receptor Gene rs53576 Polymorphism

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Abstract

Parental psychological control (PPC) is associated with adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI); however, its underlying mechanisms have not been extensively investigated. Considering that genetic and environmental factors interactively influence adolescent development, this study examined whether the parent–adolescent relationship mediated the link between PPC and adolescent NSSI, and whether this mediating process was moderated by the oxytocin receptor gene rs53576 polymorphism (OXTR rs53576). Participants comprised 673 adolescents (Meanage = 12.81 years, SD =  0.48 years) who completed questionnaires regarding PPC, the parent–adolescent relationship, and NSSI. DNA was extracted from each participant’s saliva samples. The results indicated that the positive association between PPC and adolescent NSSI was mediated by the parent–adolescent relationship. Moreover, this indirect link was stronger for adolescents with AA homozygotes of OXTR rs53576 than for those with the GG or AG genotype. These findings extend our understanding of the association between PPC and adolescent NSSI and suggest that a simultaneous focus on PPC, the parent–adolescent relationship, and OXTR rs53576 may favor NSSI interventions.

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Data Availability

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the participants in this study.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31600901), Guangzhou University Graduate Student Innovation Ability Cultivation Program and Funds for Pandeng Plan of Guagndong Province, China (pdjh2022a0407).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China

    Huahua Wang, Yuting Deng & Chengfu Yu

  2. Zhangbian Primary School, Guangzhou, 511446, Guangdong, China

    Meijin Li

  3. School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, Guangdong, China

    Zhiyuan Tao

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  1. Huahua Wang
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Contributions

HW: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, writing-original draft preparation and editing; YD: methodology, investigation, writing-review and editing; ML: investigation, writing-review and editing; ZT: investigation, writing-review and editing; CY: conceptualization, investigation, writing-review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chengfu Yu.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Academic Ethics Review Committee of the School of Education, Guangzhou University (Protocol Number: GZHU 2019012, Date of Approval: May 27, 2019).

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Wang, H., Deng, Y., Li, M. et al. Parental Psychological Control, the Parent–Adolescent Relationship, and Non-suicidal Self-Injury Among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Effect of the Oxytocin Receptor Gene rs53576 Polymorphism. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-023-01646-2

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