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Houweling TAJ, Grünberger I. Intergenerational transmission of health inequalities: towards a life course approach to socioeconomic inequalities in health - a review. J Epidemiol Community Health 2024:jech-2022-220162. [PMID: 38955463 DOI: 10.1136/jech-2022-220162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
Adult health inequalities are a persistent public health problem. Explanations are usually sought in behaviours and environments in adulthood, despite evidence on the importance of early life conditions for life course outcomes. We review evidence from a broad range of fields to unravel to what extent, and how, socioeconomic health inequalities are intergenerationally transmitted.We find that transmission of socioeconomic and associated health (dis)advantages from parents to offspring, and its underlying structural determinants, contributes substantially to socioeconomic inequalities in adult health. In the first two decades of life-from conception to early adulthood-parental socioeconomic position (SEP) and parental health strongly influence offspring adult SEP and health. Socioeconomic and health (dis)advantages are largely transmitted through the same broad mechanisms. Socioeconomic inequalities in the fetal environment contribute to inequalities in fetal development and birth outcomes, with lifelong socioeconomic and health consequences. Inequalities in the postnatal environment-especially the psychosocial and learning environment, physical exposures and socialisation-result in inequalities in child and adolescent health, development and behavioural habits, with health and socioeconomic consequences tracking into adulthood. Structural factors shape these mechanisms in a socioeconomically patterned and time-specific and place-specific way, leading to distinct birth-cohort patterns in health inequality.Adult health inequalities are for an important part intergenerationally transmitted. Effective health inequality reduction requires addressing intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantage by creating societal circumstances that allow all children to develop to their full potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanja A J Houweling
- Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ilona Grünberger
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
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Zukerman R, Harris A, Oddone F, Siesky B, Verticchio Vercellin A, Ciulla TA. Glaucoma Heritability: Molecular Mechanisms of Disease. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12081135. [PMID: 34440309 PMCID: PMC8391305 DOI: 10.3390/genes12081135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2021] [Revised: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Glaucoma is one of the world’s leading causes of irreversible blindness. A complex, multifactorial disease, the underlying pathogenesis and reasons for disease progression are not fully understood. The most common form of glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), was traditionally understood to be the result of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), leading to optic nerve damage and functional vision loss. Recently, researchers have suggested that POAG may have an underlying genetic component. In fact, studies of genetic association and heritability have yielded encouraging results showing that glaucoma may be influenced by genetic factors, and estimates for the heritability of POAG and disease-related endophenotypes show encouraging results. However, the vast majority of the underlying genetic variants and their molecular mechanisms have not been elucidated. Several genes have been suggested to have molecular mechanisms contributing to alterations in key endophenotypes such as IOP (LMX1B, MADD, NR1H3, and SEPT9), and VCDR (ABCA1, ELN, ASAP1, and ATOH7). Still, genetic studies about glaucoma and its molecular mechanisms are limited by the multifactorial nature of the disease and the large number of genes that have been identified to have an association with glaucoma. Therefore, further study into the molecular mechanisms of the disease itself are required for the future development of therapies targeted at genes leading to POAG endophenotypes and, therefore, increased risk of disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Zukerman
- Department of Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; (R.Z.); (A.H.); (B.S.); (A.V.V.)
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Alon Harris
- Department of Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; (R.Z.); (A.H.); (B.S.); (A.V.V.)
| | | | - Brent Siesky
- Department of Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; (R.Z.); (A.H.); (B.S.); (A.V.V.)
| | - Alice Verticchio Vercellin
- Department of Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; (R.Z.); (A.H.); (B.S.); (A.V.V.)
| | - Thomas A. Ciulla
- Midwest Eye Institute, Indianapolis, IN 46290, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-(317)-506-0334 or +1-(317)-817-1822; Fax: +1-(317)-817-1898
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Abstract
Behavioral genetics and cultural evolution have both revolutionized our understanding of human behavior-largely independent of each other. Here we reconcile these two fields under a dual inheritance framework, offering a more nuanced understanding of the interaction between genes and culture. Going beyond typical analyses of gene-environment interactions, we describe the cultural dynamics that shape these interactions by shaping the environment and population structure. A cultural evolutionary approach can explain, for example, how factors such as rates of innovation and diffusion, density of cultural sub-groups, and tolerance for behavioral diversity impact heritability estimates, thus yielding predictions for different social contexts. Moreover, when cumulative culture functionally overlaps with genes, genetic effects become masked, unmasked, or even reversed, and the causal effects of an identified gene become confounded with features of the cultural environment. The manner of confounding is specific to a particular society at a particular time, but a WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) sampling problem obscures this boundedness. Cultural evolutionary dynamics are typically missing from models of gene-to-phenotype causality, hindering generalizability of genetic effects across societies and across time. We lay out a reconciled framework and use it to predict the ways in which heritability should differ between societies, between socioeconomic levels and other groupings within some societies but not others, and over the life course. An integrated cultural evolutionary behavioral genetic approach cuts through the nature-nurture debate and helps resolve controversies in topics such as IQ.
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Zhang Q, Su Z, Guo Y, Zhang S, Jiang L, Wu R. Genome-wide association studies of callus differentiation for the desert tree, Populus euphratica. TREE PHYSIOLOGY 2020; 40:1762-1777. [PMID: 32761189 DOI: 10.1093/treephys/tpaa098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2020] [Accepted: 07/31/2020] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Callus differentiation is a key developmental process in plant regeneration from cells. A better understanding of the genetic architecture of callus differentiation timing can help improve tissue transformation and the efficiency of artificial propagation. In this study, we investigated genotypic variation in callus differentiation capacity among 297 diverse P. euphratica trees sampled from a natural population. We employed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of binary and growth-based parameters to identify loci and characterize the genetic architecture and genetic network underlying regulation of callus differentiation in P. euphratica. The results of this GWAS experiment suggested potential associations controlling whether the callus could differentiate and the process of callus differentiation. We identified multiple significant quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including the genes LOG1 and LOG7 and a locus containing WOX1. We reconstructed a genetic network that visualizes how each QTL interacts uniquely with other variants, and several core QTLs were detected that are involved in the degree of callus differentiation, providing potential targets for selection. This study represents one of the first to identify genetic variants affecting callus differentiation in a forest tree. Our results suggest that callus differentiation may be a typical qualitative-quantitative trait controlled by a major gene as well as polygenes across the genome of P. euphratica. This GWAS will help to design more complex and specific molecular tools for systematically manipulating organ regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianru Zhang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
- Center for Computational Biology, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Zhifang Su
- Center for Computational Biology, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Yunqian Guo
- Center for Computational Biology, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Shilong Zhang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
- Center for Computational Biology, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Libo Jiang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
- Center for Computational Biology, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Rongling Wu
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
- Center for Computational Biology, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
- Center for Statistical Genetics, The Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
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Gurdasani D, Carstensen T, Fatumo S, Chen G, Franklin CS, Prado-Martinez J, Bouman H, Abascal F, Haber M, Tachmazidou I, Mathieson I, Ekoru K, DeGorter MK, Nsubuga RN, Finan C, Wheeler E, Chen L, Cooper DN, Schiffels S, Chen Y, Ritchie GRS, Pollard MO, Fortune MD, Mentzer AJ, Garrison E, Bergström A, Hatzikotoulas K, Adeyemo A, Doumatey A, Elding H, Wain LV, Ehret G, Auer PL, Kooperberg CL, Reiner AP, Franceschini N, Maher D, Montgomery SB, Kadie C, Widmer C, Xue Y, Seeley J, Asiki G, Kamali A, Young EH, Pomilla C, Soranzo N, Zeggini E, Pirie F, Morris AP, Heckerman D, Tyler-Smith C, Motala AA, Rotimi C, Kaleebu P, Barroso I, Sandhu MS. Uganda Genome Resource Enables Insights into Population History and Genomic Discovery in Africa. Cell 2020; 179:984-1002.e36. [PMID: 31675503 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Revised: 04/03/2019] [Accepted: 10/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Genomic studies in African populations provide unique opportunities to understand disease etiology, human diversity, and population history. In the largest study of its kind, comprising genome-wide data from 6,400 individuals and whole-genome sequences from 1,978 individuals from rural Uganda, we find evidence of geographically correlated fine-scale population substructure. Historically, the ancestry of modern Ugandans was best represented by a mixture of ancient East African pastoralists. We demonstrate the value of the largest sequence panel from Africa to date as an imputation resource. Examining 34 cardiometabolic traits, we show systematic differences in trait heritability between European and African populations, probably reflecting the differential impact of genes and environment. In a multi-trait pan-African GWAS of up to 14,126 individuals, we identify novel loci associated with anthropometric, hematological, lipid, and glycemic traits. We find that several functionally important signals are driven by Africa-specific variants, highlighting the value of studying diverse populations across the region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepti Gurdasani
- William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary's University of London, London, UK
| | | | - Segun Fatumo
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; Uganda Medical Informatics Centre (UMIC), MRC/UVRI and LSHTM (Uganda Research Unit), Entebbe, Uganda; H3Africa Bioinformatics Network (H3ABioNet) Node, Center for Genomics Research and Innovation (CGRI)/National Biotechnology Development Agency CGRI/NABDA, Abuja, Nigeria
| | - Guanjie Chen
- Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Marc Haber
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ioanna Tachmazidou
- GSK Medicines Research Centre, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage Hertfordshire SG1 2NY, UK
| | - Iain Mathieson
- Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Kenneth Ekoru
- Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda; Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Marianne K DeGorter
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Rebecca N Nsubuga
- Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda
| | - Chris Finan
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
| | - Eleanor Wheeler
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK; MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Li Chen
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
| | - David N Cooper
- Institute of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Stephan Schiffels
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Yuan Chen
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
| | | | | | | | - Alex J Mentzer
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | | | - Konstantinos Hatzikotoulas
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK; Institute of Translational Genomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Adebowale Adeyemo
- Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ayo Doumatey
- Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | | | - Louise V Wain
- Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK; National Institute for Health Research, Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK
| | - Georg Ehret
- McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Geneva University Hospitals, Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil 4, 1211 Genève 14, Switzerland
| | - Paul L Auer
- Zilber School of Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - Charles L Kooperberg
- Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Alexander P Reiner
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Nora Franceschini
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Dermot Maher
- Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda
| | - Stephen B Montgomery
- Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Yali Xue
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
| | - Janet Seeley
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda
| | - Gershim Asiki
- Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda
| | - Anatoli Kamali
- Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda
| | - Elizabeth H Young
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK; Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Cristina Pomilla
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK; Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Nicole Soranzo
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK; Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; The National Institute for Health Research Blood and Transplant Unit (NIHR BTRU) in Donor Health and Genomics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Eleftheria Zeggini
- Institute of Translational Genomics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Fraser Pirie
- Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Andrew P Morris
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Department of Biostatistics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | | | | | - Ayesha A Motala
- Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
| | - Charles Rotimi
- Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Pontiano Kaleebu
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; Uganda Medical Informatics Centre (UMIC), MRC/UVRI and LSHTM (Uganda Research Unit), Entebbe, Uganda; Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute (MRC/UVRI) and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda.
| | - Inês Barroso
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK; MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Manj S Sandhu
- Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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Burri A, Ogata S, Rice D, Williams FMK. Twelve-year follow-up of chronic pain in twins: Changes in environmental and genetic influence over time. Eur J Pain 2018; 22:1439-1447. [PMID: 29676837 DOI: 10.1002/ejp.1233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While genetic influences on chronic pain have been repeatedly demonstrated, we do not know whether these effects are stable or dynamic over time. AIMS To determine the temporal pattern of genetic and environmental effects to individual differences in chronic pain over 12 years, we use a sample of n = 961 female twins. METHODS Data on chronic pain were collected in 2004 (T1) and 2016 (T2) using the same comprehensive body map which divides the body into 31 distinct anatomical areas. Multivariate twin analyses for repeated measures were conducted to track changes in genetic and environmental influences. RESULTS Heritability for chronic pain was 63% at baseline and 55% at follow-up. The best-fitting AE Cholesky model revealed one genetic factor explaining 62% of variance in chronic pain at T1 and 11% at T2. No additional genetic factors explaining the variance in chronic pain at T2 could be detected. Furthermore, a unique environmental factor (E1) explaining 37% of the variance in chronic pain at T1 and 12% at T2 and an additional environmental factor (E2) explaining 77% of the variance at T2 were found. CONCLUSION We demonstrate for the first time that the same genetic influences are operative over time and that novel environmental factors are important in pain maintenance. The findings highlight the value of more in depth exploration of these non-shared environmental influences that could provide clues to the mechanisms behind remittance and/or maintenance of chronic pain. The identification of important environmental influences could point to novel therapeutic interventions in future. SIGNIFICANCE The variability in chronic pain is mainly explained by new environmental factors influencing incidence, aggravation and/or chronic pain remission. Integration of these findings may provide a useful conceptual framework for the treatment and prevention of pain and pain chronification.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Burri
- Health and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.,Waitemata Pain Service, Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, North Shore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - S Ogata
- Centre for Cerebral and Cardiovascular Disease Information, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Centre, Osaka, Japan.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - D Rice
- Health and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.,Waitemata Pain Service, Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, North Shore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - F M K Williams
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK
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7
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Burri A, Ogata S. Stability of Genetic and Environmental Influences on Female Sexual Functioning. J Sex Med 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Wang RAH, Davis OSP, Wootton RE, Mottershaw A, Haworth CMA. Social support and mental health in late adolescence are correlated for genetic, as well as environmental, reasons. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13088. [PMID: 29026181 PMCID: PMC5638798 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13449-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 09/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Late adolescence is a crucial, but underexplored, developmental stage with respect to the aetiology of social support. These individuals are experiencing many major life changes and social support can help them adjust to the associated environmental stressors of this time. Using 1,215 18-year-old twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study, we collected measures of two indices of support: support quality and support quantity, as well as wellbeing and depression. Both support indices were moderately heritable (55% and 49%, respectively), an interesting finding given the many environmental changes that late adolescents are encountering that could be environmentally altering their social network structures. Finding a genetic influence on support suggests the presence of gene-environment correlation whereby individuals create and perceive their supportive environment based upon their genetic predispositions. Shared genetic influences mediated the moderate phenotypic correlation (mean r = 0.46) between support and mental health. Genetic correlations were higher between support quality and mental health (mean rA = 0.75), than between support quantity and mental health (mean rA = 0.54), reflecting the phenotypic pattern. This suggests that interventions should focus more on making late adolescents aware of the support quality around them than encouraging them to increase their social network size.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Adele H Wang
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TU, United Kingdom.
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, United Kingdom.
- School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2PS, United Kingdom.
| | - Oliver S P Davis
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, United Kingdom
- School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2PS, United Kingdom
| | - Robyn E Wootton
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TU, United Kingdom
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, United Kingdom
- School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2PS, United Kingdom
| | - Abigail Mottershaw
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TU, United Kingdom
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, United Kingdom
- School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2PS, United Kingdom
| | - Claire M A Haworth
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TU, United Kingdom
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, United Kingdom
- School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2PS, United Kingdom
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Wootton RE, Davis OSP, Mottershaw AL, Wang RAH, Haworth CMA. Genetic and environmental correlations between subjective wellbeing and experience of life events in adolescence. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2017; 26:1119-1127. [PMID: 28508957 PMCID: PMC5591350 DOI: 10.1007/s00787-017-0997-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2016] [Accepted: 05/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
Some life events appear heritable due to the genetic influence on related behaviours. Shared genetic influence between negative behaviours and negative life events has previously been established. This study investigated whether subjective wellbeing and positive life events were genetically associated. Participants in the Twins Early Development Study (aged 16.32 ± .68 years) completed subjective wellbeing and life events assessments via two separate studies (overlapping N for wellbeing and life events measures ranged from 3527 to 9350). We conducted bivariate twin models between both positive and negative life events with subjective wellbeing and related positive psychological traits including subjective happiness, life satisfaction, optimism, hopefulness and gratitude measured at 16 years. Results suggested that the heritability of life events can partially be explained by shared genetic influences with the wellbeing indicators. Wellbeing traits were positively genetically correlated with positive life events and negatively correlated with negative life events (except curiosity where there was no correlation). Those positive traits that drive behaviour (grit and ambition) showed the highest genetic correlation with life events, whereas the reflective trait gratitude was less correlated. This suggests that gene-environment correlations might explain the observed genetic association between life events and wellbeing. Inheriting propensity for positive traits might cause you to seek environments that lead to positive life events and avoid environments which make negative life events more likely.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robyn E Wootton
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TU, UK.
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK.
| | - Oliver S P Davis
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
| | - Abigail L Mottershaw
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TU, UK
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
| | - R Adele H Wang
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TU, UK
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
| | - Claire M A Haworth
- School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TU, UK
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2BN, UK
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Abstract
Behavioral traits generally show moderate to strong genetic influence, with heritability estimates of around 50%. Some recent research has suggested that trust may be an exception because it is more strongly influenced by social interactions. In a sample of over 7,000 adolescent twins from the United Kingdom’s Twins Early Development Study, we found broad sense heritability estimates of 57% for generalized trust and 51% for trust in friends. Genomic-relatedness-matrix restricted maximum likelihood (GREML) estimates in the same sample indicate that 21% of the narrow sense genetic variance can be explained by common single nucleotide polymorphisms for generalized trust and 43% for trust in friends. As expected, this implies a large amount of unexplained heritability, although power is low for estimating DNA-based heritability. The missing heritability may be accounted for by interactions between DNA and the social environment during development or via gene–environment correlations with rare variants. How these genes and environments correlate seem especially important for the development of trust.
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11
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Krapohl E, Plomin R. Genetic link between family socioeconomic status and children's educational achievement estimated from genome-wide SNPs. Mol Psychiatry 2016; 21:437-43. [PMID: 25754083 PMCID: PMC4486001 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2015.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2014] [Revised: 11/21/2014] [Accepted: 12/19/2014] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
One of the best predictors of children's educational achievement is their family's socioeconomic status (SES), but the degree to which this association is genetically mediated remains unclear. For 3000 UK-representative unrelated children we found that genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms could explain a third of the variance of scores on an age-16 UK national examination of educational achievement and half of the correlation between their scores and family SES. Moreover, genome-wide polygenic scores based on a previously published genome-wide association meta-analysis of total number of years in education accounted for ~3.0% variance in educational achievement and ~2.5% in family SES. This study provides the first molecular evidence for substantial genetic influence on differences in children's educational achievement and its association with family SES.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Krapohl
- King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, London, UK,King's College London, Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, UK. E-mail:
| | - R Plomin
- King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, London, UK
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Pingault JB, Rijsdijk F, Zheng Y, Plomin R, Viding E. Developmentally dynamic genome: Evidence of genetic influences on increases and decreases in conduct problems from early childhood to adolescence. Sci Rep 2015; 5:10053. [PMID: 25944445 PMCID: PMC4421862 DOI: 10.1038/srep10053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2014] [Accepted: 03/20/2015] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of conduct problems in childhood and adolescence is associated with adverse long-term outcomes, including psychiatric morbidity. Although genes constitute a proven factor of stability in conduct problems, less is known regarding their role in conduct problems' developmental course (i.e. systematic age changes, for instance linear increases or decreases).Mothers rated conduct problems from age 4 to 16 years in 10,038 twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study. Individual differences in the baseline level (.78; 95% CI: .68-.88) and the developmental course of conduct problems (.73; 95% CI: .60-.86) were under high and largely independent additive genetic influences. Shared environment made a small contribution to the baseline level but not to the developmental course of conduct problems. These results show that genetic influences not only contribute to behavioural stability but also explain systematic change in conduct problems. Different sets of genes may be associated with the developmental course versus the baseline level of conduct problems. The structure of genetic and environmental influences on the development of conduct problems suggests that repeated preventive interventions at different developmental stages might be necessary to achieve a long-term impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Baptiste Pingault
- 1] King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom [2] Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Frühling Rijsdijk
- King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yao Zheng
- 1] King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom [2] Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Canada
| | - Robert Plomin
- King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
| | - Essi Viding
- 1] King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom [2] Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Waszczuk MA, Zavos HMS, Antonova E, Haworth CM, Plomin R, Eley TC. A multivariate twin study of trait mindfulness, depressive symptoms, and anxiety sensitivity. Depress Anxiety 2015; 32:254-61. [PMID: 25639257 PMCID: PMC4413043 DOI: 10.1002/da.22326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2014] [Revised: 08/27/2014] [Accepted: 09/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mindfulness-based therapies have been shown to be effective in treating depression and reducing cognitive biases. Anxiety sensitivity is one cognitive bias that may play a role in the association between mindfulness and depressive symptoms. It refers to an enhanced sensitivity toward symptoms of anxiety, with a belief that these are harmful. Currently, little is known about the mechanisms underpinning the association between mindfulness, depression, and anxiety sensitivity. The aim of this study was to examine the role of genetic and environmental factors in trait mindfulness, and its genetic and environmental overlap with depressive symptoms and anxiety sensitivity. METHODS Over 2,100 16-year-old twins from a population-based study rated their mindfulness, depressive symptoms, and anxiety sensitivity. RESULTS Twin modeling analyses revealed that mindfulness is 32% heritable and 66% due to nonshared environmental factors, with no significant influence of shared environment. Genetic influences explained over half of the moderate phenotypic associations between low mindfulness, depressive symptoms, and anxiety sensitivity. About two-thirds of genetic influences and almost all nonshared environmental influences on mindfulness were independent of depression and anxiety sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to show that both genes and environment play an important role in the etiology of mindfulness in adolescence. Future research should identify the specific environmental factors that influence trait mindfulness during development to inform targeted treatment and resilience interventions. Shared genetic liability underpinning the co-occurrence of low mindfulness, depression, and anxiety sensitivity suggests that the biological pathways shared between these traits should also be examined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika A Waszczuk
- MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College LondonLondon, UK
| | - Helena M S Zavos
- MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College LondonLondon, UK
| | - Elena Antonova
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College LondonLondon, UK
| | | | - Robert Plomin
- MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College LondonLondon, UK
| | - Thalia C Eley
- MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College LondonLondon, UK,*Correspondence to: Thalia Eley, MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, PO Box 80, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. E-mail:
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