title: Stability and Change in Genetic and Environmental Influences on Well-Being in Response to an Intervention.
abstract: Genetic and environmental influences on complex traits can change in response to developmental and environmental contexts. Here we explore the impact of a positive activity intervention on the genetic and environmental influences on well-being and mental health in a sample of 750 adolescent twins. Twins completed a 10-week online well-being intervention, consisting of kindness and gratitude tasks and matched control activities. The results showed significant improvements both in well-being and in internalizing symptoms in response to the intervention activities. We used multivariate twin analyses of repeated measures, tracking stability and change in genetic and environmental influences, to assess the impact of this environmental intervention on these variance components. The heritability of well-being remained high both before and after the intervention, and the same genetic effects were important at each stage, even as well-being increased. The overall magnitude of environmental influences was also stable across the intervention; however, different non-shared environmental influences emerged during the intervention. Our study highlights the value of exploring the innovations in non-shared environmental influences that could provide clues to the mechanisms behind improvements in well-being. The findings also emphasize that even traits strongly influenced by genetics, like well-being, are subject to change in response to environmental interventions.
authors.affiliation: MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, School of Experimental Psychology & School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Claire M A
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Haworth
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee, United States of America.
authors.forename: S Katherine
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, United States of America.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Layous
authors.affiliation: Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, United States of America.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jacobs Bao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lyubomirsky
authors.affiliation: Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Plomin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010641:Phenotype; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics*; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics*