Fig. 4

Linear model shows the influence of the covariates of interest on the Methylation similarity index for OXTR and BDNF. A The bar plot of the t-statistic for each regression coefficient shows that the Neglect group, as compared to the Control group was associated with a lower MSI in the OXTR gene. The red asterisks denote statistical significance after multiple comparison corrections. Of note, increases in Mother empathy positively correlated with the mother–child MSI in gene OXTR for an alpha level of 0.05. However, it did not survive multiple comparison corrections. B Bar plot across the levels of the factor group of the MSI in the OXTR gene. C The bar plot of the t-statistic for each regression coefficient, shows that the higher level of Mother adversity was associated with a lower MSI for the BDNF gene. D Scatter plot of Mother adversity versus MSI in BDNF gene. Every dot in the plot corresponds to a mother–child dyad