Oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is related to psychological resources

Psychological resources—optimism, mastery, and self-esteem—buffer the deleterious effects of stress and are predictors of neurophysiological and psychological health-related outcomes. These resources have been shown to be highly heritable, yet the genetic basis for this heritability remains unknown....

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 108; no. 37; pp. 15118 - 15122
Main Authors Saphire-Bernstein, Shimon, Way, Baldwin M, Kim, Heejung S, Sherman, David K, Taylor, Shelley E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences 13.09.2011
National Acad Sciences
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Alleles
Depression
Depression - genetics
Depressive disorders
Female
Genes
Genetic variation
Genotype
Heritability
homozygosity
Homozygotes
Humans
Male
Mental depression
Mental Processes
Models, Psychological
Optimism
oxytocin
Oxytocin receptors
Physiology
Psychological research
Psychological symptoms
Psychology
Receptors, Oxytocin - genetics
Self esteem
Single-nucleotide polymorphism
Social Sciences
Stress
Symptoms
T cell receptors
Young Adult
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Summary:Psychological resources—optimism, mastery, and self-esteem—buffer the deleterious effects of stress and are predictors of neurophysiological and psychological health-related outcomes. These resources have been shown to be highly heritable, yet the genetic basis for this heritability remains unknown. Here, we report a link between the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) SNP rs53576 and psychological resources, such that carriers of the "A" allele have lower levels of optimism, mastery, and self-esteem, relative to G/G homozygotes. OXTR was also associated with depressive symptomatology. Mediation analysis indicates that the effects of OXTR on depressive symptoms may be largely mediated by the influence of OXTR on psychological resources.
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Author contributions: S.S.-B., B.M.W., H.S.K., D.K.S., and S.E.T. designed research; B.M.W. and S.E.T. performed research; S.S.-B. and B.M.W. analyzed data; and S.S.-B. and S.E.T. wrote the paper.
Contributed by Shelley E. Taylor, August 10, 2011 (sent for review May 19, 2011)
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1113137108