Parents see genes at play: Parenthood and heritability attributions about “lifestyle” diseases

Alison Jane Martingano and Susan Persky

Social Science & Medicine, 2025, vol. 381, issue C

Abstract: Parenthood offers a unique window into how genes and environments shape human characteristics. Here, we investigated whether parenthood is associated with beliefs about the heritability of various health attributes. In Study 1 (N = 720), we found that individuals with children provided higher estimates of genetic influence for obesity, weight, and type 2 diabetes. This effect was largely driven by comparing parents and non-parents rather than by the number of children a parent has. For these attributes women were likely to more highly endorse genetic causes than men, indicating that motherhood may have a particularly strong impact on heritability beliefs. Study 2 provided a meta-analysis of existing data (k = 5, total N = 2353) which converged on a small but reliable overall relationship (g = 0.11, p = .007) between parenthood and greater attributions of genetic causes, again focused on “lifestyle” attributes (specifically obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease). We did not replicate the effect of gender from Study 1. Together, these findings suggest that parenthood may heighten awareness of genetic underpinnings for particular health attributes, possibly through direct observations of children's traits or as a way to reconcile caregiving experiences with disease stigma. Implications highlight the need for targeted health messaging that recognizes parents' more gene-focused mindsets, while also addressing the environmental and behavioral factors that contribute to health risks.

Keywords: Parenthood; Heritability; Genetic attributions; Lifestyle diseases; Obesity; Type 2 diabetes; Health beliefs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118277

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