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Oxytocin and Human Sensitive and Protective Parenting

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Behavioral Pharmacology of Neuropeptides: Oxytocin

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 35))

Abstract

In this chapter we review the evidence for the role of oxytocin in parenting, and discuss some crucial but outstanding questions. This is not meant to be a comprehensive review of all studies on oxytocin and parenting in general. Instead, special attention will be paid to a dimension of parenting that has been largely neglected in behavioral and neurobiological research on parental caregiving, namely protection. Parental protection has received considerable attention in animal research but, despite its evolutionary importance, not in studies on humans. It is argued that oxytocin may have specific significance for the protective dimension of parenting. The effects of exogenous oxytocin may be dependent not only on contextual factors, but also on personal characteristics, most notably gender, on endogenous levels of oxytocin, and on early childhood experiences. Examining the contextual, personal, hormonal, neural, genetic, and behavioral mechanisms of protective parenting in tandem is essential for the development of a comprehensive theory of protective parenting, and for the identification of “biomarkers” for insensitive and unprotective parenting that should be taken into account in preventive parenting interventions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg & Marinus H. van IJzendoorn

  2. Center for Moral Socialization Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Marinus H. van IJzendoorn

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  1. Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg
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  2. Marinus H. van IJzendoorn
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Correspondence to Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Rene Hurlemann

  2. Schaller Research Group on Neuropeptides German Cancer Research Center, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, BW, Germany

    Valery Grinevich

  3. Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, BW, Germany

    Valery Grinevich

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Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J., van IJzendoorn, M.H. (2017). Oxytocin and Human Sensitive and Protective Parenting. In: Hurlemann, R., Grinevich, V. (eds) Behavioral Pharmacology of Neuropeptides: Oxytocin. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 35. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2017_23

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