Rebollo Irene, Boomsma Dorret I
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Behav Genet. 2006 Mar;36(2):216-28. doi: 10.1007/s10519-005-9025-8. Epub 2006 Jan 10.
The knowledge of the causes and development of anger is still scarce. Previous studies on the sources of variance on Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) related measures found variable heritability estimates ranging from 0.12 to 0.68, and large differences between MZ and DZ correlations. Some authors considered dominance genetic effects, competitive sibling interaction and sex differences as possible mechanisms to explain the results, but most studies lacked power. The present study uses a large sample of more than 2,500 families, with longitudinal data from MZ and DZ pairs as well as their parents, to disentangle the sources of variance on anger. Model Fitting results showed that the sources of variance differ across sexes. For males 23% of the variance is due to additive genetic effects, and 26% to dominance genetic effects. For females 34% of the variance is due to additive genetic effects, and no dominance effects are found. There was no consistent evidence to confirm the presence of competitive sibling interaction as an alternative explanation for the low correlations in DZ males. The focus of research on the prediction of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk through psychological characteristics has recently changed from the multidimensional TABP to its emotional component: Anger. Understanding the sources of individual differences on anger can help to clarify the mechanisms that link it with CHD and its possible implications for treatment and prevention.
关于愤怒的成因及发展的知识仍然匮乏。先前对A型行为模式（TABP）相关测量指标的方差来源的研究发现，遗传率估计值各不相同，范围从0.12到0.68，且同卵双胞胎（MZ）和异卵双胞胎（DZ）相关性之间存在很大差异。一些作者认为显性遗传效应、竞争性的同胞互动和性别差异是解释这些结果的可能机制，但大多数研究的说服力不足。本研究使用了一个由2500多个家庭组成的大样本，有来自同卵双胞胎和异卵双胞胎及其父母的纵向数据，以理清愤怒的方差来源。模型拟合结果表明，方差来源因性别而异。对于男性，23%的方差归因于加性遗传效应，26%归因于显性遗传效应。对于女性，34%的方差归因于加性遗传效应，未发现显性效应。没有一致的证据证实存在竞争性的同胞互动可作为异卵双胞胎男性相关性较低的另一种解释。通过心理特征预测冠心病（CHD）风险的研究重点最近已从多维A型行为模式转向其情绪成分：愤怒。了解愤怒个体差异的来源有助于阐明将其与冠心病联系起来的机制及其对治疗和预防的可能影响。
