Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario,Westminster Hall, London, Ontario, Canada.
Emotion. 2010 Oct;10(5):696-702. doi: 10.1037/a0019527.
Association studies of the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and negative emotionality (NE) are inconclusive. However, emerging evidence suggests that the association between this polymorphism and NE may be influenced by levels of another temperament trait, positive emotionality (PE). Therefore, this study examined whether the association between the 5-HTTLPR and NE was moderated by PE. A community sample of 413 three-year-old children completed a standardized battery of laboratory tasks designed to tap temperamental emotionality. Children were also genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR. No direct association between 5-HTTLPR genotype and NE was found. However, the interaction of child PE and NE predicted 5-HTTLPR genotype. Furthermore, children with a short allele who were also low in PE had significantly greater NE than children without a short allele or children with high PE. Our findings suggest that the short allele of the 5-HTTLPR is associated with NE only in the context of low PE. Inconsistent links between NE and this gene in previous research may stem from the failure to consider other temperament traits that moderate associations.
5-羟色胺转运体启动子多态性（5-HTTLPR）与负性情绪（NE）的关联研究尚无定论。然而，新出现的证据表明，这种多态性与 NE 之间的关联可能受到另一种气质特征，即正性情绪（PE）的影响。因此，本研究检验了 5-HTTLPR 与 NE 之间的关联是否受 PE 的调节。一个由 413 名 3 岁儿童组成的社区样本完成了一系列旨在探究气质情感的标准化实验室任务。儿童还接受了 5-HTTLPR 的基因分型。未发现 5-HTTLPR 基因型与 NE 之间存在直接关联。然而，儿童的 PE 和 NE 的相互作用预测了 5-HTTLPR 基因型。此外，短等位基因且 PE 较低的儿童的 NE 显著高于没有短等位基因或 PE 较高的儿童。我们的研究结果表明，5-HTTLPR 的短等位基因仅在 PE 较低的情况下与 NE 相关。在先前的研究中，NE 与该基因之间不一致的联系可能源于未能考虑调节关联的其他气质特征。
