title: BDNF Val66Met, stress, and positive mothering: Differential susceptibility model of adolescent trait anxiety.
abstract: Etiological research has indicated the gene-environment interaction (G × E) on adolescent anxiety. This study aimed to examine how the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism interacted with stressful life events and positive mothering to influence youth trait anxiety. The study sample included 780 community adolescents of Chinese Han ethnicity (M = 13.6, 51.3% females). Participants' trait anxiety, exposure to stressful life events, and mother's warmth-reasoning were assessed by self-reported questionnaires. We found that BDNF Val66Met polymorphism significantly moderated the influences of stressful life events and mother's warmth-reasoning on adolescent anxiety. The influences were significantly greater in adolescents carrying one or two Val allele than those with Met/Met genotype. Moreover, the G × E interactions were more consistent with the differential susceptibility than the diathesis-stress model. Adolescents carrying Val allele who were more susceptible to adversity were also more likely to benefit from supportive experiences. These findings provide novel evidence for the role of BDNF Val66Met as a genetic susceptibility modulating the influences of stressful life events and mother's warmth-reasoning on adolescent anxiety. We speculate that BDNF Val66Met may moderate anxious youths' responses to mindfulness-based stress reduction program and family-based treatment targeting the enhancement of positive parenting.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: chenjie@psych.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Leilei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jianxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000483:Alleles; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000235:genetics*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D016487:Parenting; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: Adolescent anxiety; BDNF Val66Met polymorphism; Differential susceptibility; Gene–environment interaction; Positive parenting; Stress