RGD Reference Report - Dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene polymorphism is associated with attachment disorganization in infants. - Rat Genome Database

Send us a Message



Submit Data |  Help |  Video Tutorials |  News |  Publications |  Download |  REST API |  Citing RGD |  Contact   

Dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene polymorphism is associated with attachment disorganization in infants.

Authors: Lakatos, K  Toth, I  Nemoda, Z  Ney, K  Sasvari-Szekely, M  Gervai, J 
Citation: Lakatos K, etal., Mol Psychiatry. 2000 Nov;5(6):633-7. doi: 10.1038/sj.mp.4000773.
RGD ID: 36947393
Pubmed: PMID:11126393   (View Abstract at PubMed)
DOI: DOI:10.1038/sj.mp.4000773   (Journal Full-text)

About 15% of one-year-old infants in non-clinical, low-risk and up to 80% in high-risk (eg maltreated) populations show extensive disorganized attachment behavior(1,2) in the Strange Situation Test.(3) It has also been reported that disorganization of early attachment is a major risk factor for the development of childhood behavior problems.(4) The collapse of organized attachment strategy has been explained primarily by inappropriate caregiving, but recently, the contribution of child factors such as neurological impairments and neonatal behavioral organization(6) has also been suggested. Here we report an association between the DRD4 III exon 48-bp repeat polymorphism and attachment disorganization. Attachment behavior of 90 infants was tested in the Strange Situation and they were independently genotyped for the number of the 48-bp repeats by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The 7-repeat allele was represented with a significantly higher frequency in infants classified as disorganized compared to non-disorganized infants: 12 of 17 (71%) vs 21 of 73 (29%) had at least one 7-repeat allele (chi2 = 8.66, df = 1, P < 0.005). The estimated relative risk for disorganized attachment among children carrying the 7-repeat allele was 4.15. We suggest that, in non-clinical, low-social-risk populations, having a 7-repeat allele predisposes infants to attachment disorganization.

RGD Manual Disease Annotations    Click to see Annotation Detail View
TermQualifierEvidenceWithReferenceNotesSourceOriginal Reference(s)
Reactive Attachment Disorder susceptibilityIAGP 36947393DNA:repeats: :RGD 
Reactive Attachment Disorder susceptibilityISODRD4 (Homo sapiens)36947393; 36947393DNA:repeats: :RGD 

Objects Annotated

Genes (Rattus norvegicus)
Drd4  (dopamine receptor D4)

Genes (Mus musculus)
Drd4  (dopamine receptor D4)

Genes (Homo sapiens)
DRD4  (dopamine receptor D4)


Additional Information