title: BDNF Val66Met polymorphism moderates the link between child maltreatment and reappraisal ability.
abstract: Child maltreatment is associated with increased risk for virtually all common mental disorders, but it is not yet clear why. One possible mechanism is emotion regulation ability. The present study investigated for the first time the influence of a BDNF Val66Met genotype × child maltreatment interaction on emotion regulation, and compared differential susceptibility and diathesis-stress models. A sample of N = 254 healthy volunteers were genotyped for the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and underwent an experimental assessment of reappraisal ability (i.e. the success of using reappraisal to downregulate negative affect). A self-report instrument previously validated against a clinical interview was used to investigate child maltreatment. There was a significant BDNF Val66Met genotype × child maltreatment interaction (B = -0.31, P < 0.015), with Met carriers showing both the lowest level of reappraisal ability in maltreated participants, and the highest level of reappraisal ability in non-maltreated participants. By assessing alternative models, we found that the best fitting model was in line with strong differential susceptibility. As expected, reappraisal ability was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms. Therefore, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism moderates the link between child maltreatment and emotion regulation ability. Future studies could investigate whether improving reappraisal in maltreated BDNF Met carriers results in reduced risk for mental disorders.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University.
authors.forename: A C
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6459-5010
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Miu
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cărnuţă
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University.|Department of Molecular Sciences, Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vulturar
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Szekely-Copîndean
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University.
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Bîlc
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University.|Department of Molecular Sciences, Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiş
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oradea, Oradea.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cioară
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szentágotai-Tătar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gross
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000235:genetics; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: BDNF; child maltreatment; cognitive endophenotype; coping; depression; differential susceptibility; emotion regulation; gene-environment interaction; plasticity gene; reappraisal