RESUMO
As one of the fundamental individual characteristics, behavioral inhibition in early childhood has considerable implications for the development of social, cognitive, and psychological adjustment. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and behavioral inhibition in Chinese children using a cross-sectional design. A sample of 263 2-year-old children (134 boys and 129 girls of Han ethnicity; ages ranging from 24 to 26 months) in China participated in the study. Behavioral inhibition was assessed through laboratory observations, and genomic DNA was collected with buccal swabs. The results of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that the homozygous short 5-HTTLPR allele was associated with lower levels of behavioral inhibition, which was different from most of the findings based on individuals in Western countries. The results suggest that social and cultural factors may be involved in shaping links between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and children's specific behaviors.
Assuntos
Comportamento Infantil/etnologia , Inibição Psicológica , Proteínas da Membrana Plasmática de Transporte de Serotonina/genética , Pré-Escolar , China/etnologia , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Polimorfismo GenéticoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Research on children's loneliness has been conducted mostly in Western, especially North American, cultures. The purpose of the study was to examine relations between loneliness and social adaptation among children and adolescents in four different societies. METHODS: A total of 2263 children from grade 3 to grade 6, aged 9 to 12 years, in Brazil, Canada, P. R. China, and Southern Italy participated in the study. The participants completed a self-report measure of loneliness. Information about social behaviors and peer relationships was obtained from peer assessments. RESULTS: Multi-group analyses revealed that the overall patterns of relations among social behaviors, peer relationships and loneliness differed across the samples. Specifically, sociability was positively associated with peer relationships and made negative indirect contributions to loneliness through peer relationships in all four samples. Aggression made significant indirect contributions to the prediction of loneliness in Chinese children, but not in other samples. Shyness-sensitivity was associated with loneliness directly in Brazilian and Italian children and indirectly through peer relationships in Canadian children, but not associated with loneliness in Chinese children. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the nature of children's loneliness may be affected by the broad socio-cultural context.