How the recession made mums more likely to scream at their children

U.S. scientists have identified an ‘angry mum’ gene that makes some mothers lash out or shout at their children.

The study revealed women who carry a variant of the protein are predisposed to hitting or shouting at children during an economic downturn.

Scientists discovered ‘harsh parenting’ increased during the Great Recession in the U.S. between 2007 and 2009, particularly amongst women with the so-called ‘sensitive’ mutation of a gene that regulates moods.

Just over half the parents taking part in the study had the gene known as DRD2 that controls dopamine, a behaviour and mood-regulating chemical in the brain.

Dr Dohoon Lee, of New York University, said: 'It’s commonly thought economic hardship within families leads to stress which - in turn - leads to deterioration of parenting quality.

'But these findings show an economic downturn in the larger community can adversely affect parenting - regardless of the conditions individual families face.'

The study, published in proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said the effect is only found in mothers who carry the gene version that makes them more likely to react to their environment.

Deteriorating financial conditions had no effect on the level of harsh parenting of mothers without the sensitive gene.

But mothers with it displayed less aggressive parenting when the economy was improving compared with those without it.




 

The researchers also analysed economic conditions in each of the cities where the mothers lived using monthly unemployment rates and consumer surveys.

The results showed that contrary to common perceptions, harsh parenting was not linked with high levels of unemployment among those studied.

Rather it was connected with increases in a city’s unemployment rate and declines in national consumer confidence.

The researchers concluded the fear of losing one's job because of deteriorating economic conditions, is more likely to cause harsh parenting than poor economic conditions or even economic hardship that a family faces.

Professor Sara McLanahan, of Princeton University, said: '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.'

The researchers also sought to determine if the response varied by genetic make-up.
Mothers with the ‘sensitive’ DRD2 gene were significantly more likely to engage in harsh parenting under deteriorating local economic conditions and declines in consumer confidence.

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