Conner Tamlin S, McFarlane Karma G, Choukri Maria, Riordan Benjamin C, Flett Jayde A M, Phipps-Green Amanda J, Topless Ruth K, Merriman Marilyn E, Merriman Tony R
Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Ara Institute of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Front Psychol. 2018 Dec 11;9:2548. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02548. eCollection 2018.
To understand the genetic underpinnings of emotion, researchers have studied genetic variants in the oxytocin system, a hormone and neurotransmitter important to socio-emotional functioning. The oxytocin receptor gene () variant rs53576 has been associated with emotional traits such as positive affect and related constructs such as optimism and self-esteem. Individuals carrying the A allele (AG and AA genotypes) of rs53576 have been found to score lower in these traits when compared to GG homozygotes, although not always. Given recent mixed evidence regarding this polymorphism, replication of these associations is critical. Using a cross-sectional design, the present study tested the association between rs53576 and a wide variety of emotional traits and states in a sample of 611 young adults ages 18 - 25 of various ethnicities (European, Asian, Māori/Pacific Islander, other). Participants completed standard trait measures of positive and negative affect, depressive symptoms, life engagement, psychological well-being, optimism, and self-esteem. They also completed state measures of positive and negative affect and life engagement for 13-days using Internet daily diaries. Controlling for ethnicity and gender, variation at the variant rs53576 obtained from blood samples was not related to any of the emotional traits or states. This null finding occurred despite measuring emotions in "near to real time" using daily diaries and having sufficient power to detect a medium effect size difference between homozygous genotype groups. These findings suggest that variation at the rs53576 locus may not be as involved in emotional differences as initial studies suggested.
为了理解情绪的遗传基础，研究人员对催产素系统中的基因变异进行了研究，催产素是一种对社会情感功能很重要的激素和神经递质。催产素受体基因（）变体rs53576与诸如积极情绪等情绪特征以及诸如乐观和自尊等相关构念有关。与GG纯合子相比，已发现携带rs53576的A等位基因（AG和AA基因型）的个体在这些特征上得分较低，尽管并非总是如此。鉴于最近关于这种多态性的证据不一，重复这些关联的研究至关重要。本研究采用横断面设计，在611名年龄在18至25岁之间、具有不同种族（欧洲、亚洲、毛利/太平洋岛民、其他）的年轻成年人样本中，测试了rs53576与多种情绪特征和状态之间的关联。参与者完成了积极和消极情绪、抑郁症状、生活投入、心理健康、乐观和自尊的标准特质测量。他们还使用互联网日常日记，连续13天完成了积极和消极情绪以及生活投入的状态测量。在控制了种族和性别后，从血样中获得的rs53576变体的变异与任何情绪特征或状态均无关联。尽管使用日常日记“近乎实时”地测量了情绪，并且有足够的能力检测纯合基因型组之间中等效应大小的差异，但仍出现了这一零结果。这些发现表明，rs53576位点的变异可能不像最初研究所表明的那样与情绪差异有关。
