Incredible Years Parenting Program Buffers Prospective Association Between Parent-Reported Harsh Parenting and Epigenetic Age Deceleration in Children with Externalizing Behavior

Harsh parenting has been shown to increase the risk of physical and mental health problems in later life. To improve our understanding of these risks and how they can be mitigated, we investigated associations of harsh parenting with a clinically relevant biomarker, epigenetic age deviation (EAD), using data from a randomized-control trial of the Incredible Years (IY) parenting program. This study included 281 children aged 4-8 years who were screened for heightened externalizing behavior and whose parents were randomly allocated to either IY or care-as-usual (CAU). Parents reported on their own parenting practices and their child’s externalizing behavior at baseline and at a follow-up assessment approximately three years later. Epigenetic age, based on the Pediatric Buccal Epigenetic (PedBE) clock, was estimated from child DNA methylation derived from saliva collected at the follow-up assessment. PedBE clock estimates were regressed on chronological age as a measure of EAD. Moderation analyses using multiple regression revealed that harsher parenting at baseline predicted epigenetic age deceleration in children that received CAU (b = -.21, 95% CI[-0.37, -0.05]), but no association was found in children whose parents were allocated to IY (b = -.02, 95% CI [-0.13, 0.19]). These results highlight a prospective association between harsh parenting and children’s EAD and indicate a potential ameliorating effect of preventive intervention. Future work is needed to replicate these findings and understand individual differences in children’s responses to harsh parenting in relation to epigenetic aging.