title: Influence of 5-HTT variation, childhood trauma and self-efficacy on anxiety traits: a gene-environment-coping interaction study.
abstract: Environmental vulnerability factors such as adverse childhood experiences in interaction with genetic risk variants, e.g., the serotonin transporter gene linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), are assumed to play a role in the development of anxiety and affective disorders. However, positive influences such as general self-efficacy (GSE) may exert a compensatory effect on genetic disposition, environmental adversity, and anxiety traits. We, thus, assessed childhood trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, CTQ) and GSE in 678 adults genotyped for 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 and their interaction on agoraphobic cognitions (Agoraphobic Cognitions Questionnaire, ACQ), social anxiety (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, LSAS), and trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI-T). The relationship between anxiety traits and childhood trauma was moderated by self-efficacy in 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 LALA genotype carriers: LALA probands maltreated as children showed high anxiety scores when self-efficacy was low, but low anxiety scores in the presence of high self-efficacy despite childhood maltreatment. Our results extend previous findings regarding anxiety-related traits showing an interactive relationship between 5-HTT genotype and adverse childhood experiences by suggesting coping-related measures to function as an additional dimension buffering the effects of a gene-environment risk constellation. Given that anxiety disorders manifest already early in childhood, this insight could contribute to the improvement of psychotherapeutic interventions by including measures strengthening self-efficacy and inform early targeted preventive interventions in at-risk populations, particularly within the crucial time window of childhood and adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Füchsleinstrasse 15, 97080, Würzburg, Germany.|Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Miriam A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schiele
authors.affiliation: Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Füchsleinstrasse 15, 97080, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Karoline
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Holitschke
authors.affiliation: Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Füchsleinstrasse 15, 97080, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schartner
authors.affiliation: Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Füchsleinstrasse 15, 97080, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Füchsleinstrasse 15, 97080, Würzburg, Germany.|Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reif
authors.affiliation: Center of Mental Health, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romanos
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pauli
authors.affiliation: kbo-Inn-Salzach-Hospital, Wasserburg am Inn, Germany.|Department of Psychiatry und Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zwanzger
authors.affiliation: Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Füchsleinstrasse 15, 97080, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deckert
authors.affiliation: Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Füchsleinstrasse 15, 97080, Würzburg, Germany. Domschke_K@ukw.de.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Domschke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D020377:Self Efficacy; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
keywords: 5-HTTLPR; Childhood trauma; Coping; General self-efficacy; Gene–environment interaction