Serotonin transporter polymorphism moderates effects of prenatal maternal anxiety on infant negative emotionality.
BACKGROUND
Consistent with the fetal programming hypothesis, effects of maternal prenatal anxiety have been found to predict various measures of infant temperament in the early postnatal period. In recent years, a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) emerged as a moderator of diverse environmental influences on different outcomes, with individuals carrying the short allele being generally more vulnerable to adversity.


METHODS
We tested whether the association between self-reported maternal anxiety at 20 weeks gestation (Brief Symptom Inventory) and mother-rated infant negative emotionality at 6 months after birth (Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised) would be moderated by the 5-HTTLPR in a large Dutch cohort sample (n = 1513). We hypothesized that infants carrying the 5-HTTLPR short allele would be more susceptible and therefore more affected by both low and high prenatal maternal anxiety vis-à-vis negative emotionality than other genotypes.


RESULTS
Findings of a significant gene × environment interaction (B = .65, p = .01) were supportive of a vulnerability model, with infants carrying the short allele being more negatively emotional when mothers reported anxiety during pregnancy, whereas there was no difference between genotypes on negative emotionality when maternal anxiety was low.


CONCLUSIONS
The association between maternal anxiety during pregnancy and negative emotionality in early infancy was significant in infants carrying one or more copies of the short allele but not in those homozygous for the long allele. The 5-HTTLPR short allele might increase vulnerability to adverse environmental influences as early as the fetal period.
Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues, Birkbeck University of London, United Kingdom. m.pluess@psychology.bbk.ac.uk
Michael
M
Pluess
Fleur P
FP
Velders
Jay
J
Belsky
Marinus H
MH
van IJzendoorn
Marian J
MJ
Bakermans-Kranenburg
Vincent W V
VW
Jaddoe
Albert
A
Hofman
Pascal P
PP
Arp
Frank C
FC
Verhulst
Henning
H
Tiemeier
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D018672:Community Health Planning; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000235:genetics*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics*; D011247:Pregnancy; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins