title: Genetic and environmental causes of individual differences in daily life positive affect and reward experience and its overlap with stress-sensitivity.
abstract: Momentary positive affect (PA) and reward experience may underlie subjective wellbeing, and index mental health resilience. This study examines their underlying sources of variation and the covariation with stress-sensitivity. The experience sampling method was used to collect multiple appraisals of mood and daily life events in 520 female twins. Structural equation model fitting was employed to determine sources of variation of PA, reward experience, and the association between reward experience and stress-sensitivity. PA was best explained by shared and non-shared environmental factors, and reward experience by non-shared environmental factors only, although the evidence was also suggestive of a small genetic contribution. Reward experience and stress-sensitivity showed no association. PA was not heritable. Most-if not all-variance of reward experience was explained by environmental influences. Stress-sensitivity, indexing depression vulnerability, and reward experience were non-overlapping, suggesting that resilience traits are independent from stress-sensitivity levels in a general population sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, South Limburg Mental Health Research and Teaching Network, EURON, Maastricht University, Vijverdal, Postbus 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands. c.lothmann@maastrichtuniversity.nl
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Menne-Lothmann
authors.forename: Nele
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Derom
authors.forename: Evert
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thiery
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Os
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wichers
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012201:Reward; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*