Department of Genetic Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
PLoS One. 2020 Aug 13;15(8):e0237001. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0237001. eCollection 2020.
Why people differ in their susceptibility to external events is essential to our understanding of personality, human development, and mental disorders. Genes explain a substantial portion of these differences. Specifically, genes influencing the serotonin system are hypothesized to be differential susceptibility factors, determining a person's reactivity to both positive and negative environments. We tested whether genetic variation in the serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) is a differential susceptibility factor for daily events. Participants (N = 326, 77% female, mean age = 25, range = 17-36) completed smartphone questionnaires four times a day over four to five days, measuring stressors, uplifts, positive and negative affect. Affect was predicted from environment valence in the previous hour on a within-person level using three-level autoregressive linear mixed models. The 5-HTTLPR fulfilled all criteria of a differential susceptibility factor: Positive affect in carriers of the short allele (S) was less reactive to both uplifts and stressors, compared to homozygous carriers of the long allele (L/L). This pattern might reflect relative affective inflexibility in S-allele carriers. Our study provides insight into the serotonin system's general role in susceptibility and highlights the need to assess the whole spectrum of naturalistic experiences.
为什么人们对外界事件的易感性存在差异，这对于我们理解个性、人类发展和精神障碍至关重要。基因解释了这些差异的很大一部分。具体来说，假设影响血清素系统的基因是差异易感性因素，决定了一个人对积极和消极环境的反应。我们测试了血清素转运体（5-HTTLPR）的基因变异是否是对日常事件的差异易感性因素。参与者（N=326，77%为女性，平均年龄为 25 岁，范围为 17-36 岁）在四天到五天内每天四次通过智能手机完成问卷调查，测量压力源、振奋事件、积极和消极情绪。使用三层自回归线性混合模型，在个体水平上，根据前一个小时的环境效价预测情绪。5-HTTLPR 满足差异易感性因素的所有标准：与长等位基因（L/L）纯合子携带者相比，短等位基因（S）携带者的积极情绪对振奋事件和压力源的反应性较低。这种模式可能反映了 S 等位基因携带者相对的情感灵活性不足。我们的研究提供了对血清素系统在易感性中普遍作用的深入了解，并强调了评估自然体验全貌的必要性。
