It is suggested that polymorphic variation at the oxytocin receptor gene (rs2254298) is associated with sociability, amygdala volume and differential risk for psychiatric conditions including autism, depression and anxiety disorder, depending on the quality of early environmental experiences.
More specifically, in a sample of 92 Caucasian adolescent girls (9-14 years old), we examined whether adverse parental environment, operationalized as mothers' history of recurrent major depressive disorder, interacts with the rs2254298 SNP on the OXTR gene to predict daughters' symptoms of depression and anxiety.