Citation

Conway CC, Keenan-Miller D, Hammen CL, Lind PA, Najman JM, Brennan PA. J. Clin. Child Adolesc. Psychol. 2012; 41(1): 53-63.

Affiliation

a Department of Psychology , University of California , Los Angeles.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15374416.2012.632351

PMID

22233245

PMCID

PMC3306815

Abstract

Despite consistent evidence that serotonin functioning affects stress reactivity and vulnerability to aggression, research on serotonin gene-stress interactions (G × E) in the development of aggression remains limited. The present study investigated variation in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) as a moderator of the stress-aggression association at the transition to adulthood. Multiple informants and multiple measures were used to assess aggression in a cohort of 381 Australian youth (61% female, 93% Caucasian) interviewed at ages 15 and 20. At age 20, semistructured interviews assessed acute and chronic stressors occurring in the past 12 months. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed a significant main effect of chronic stress, but not 5-HTTLPR or acute stress, on increases in aggression at age 20. Consistent with G × E hypotheses, 5-HTTLPR short allele carriers demonstrated greater increments in aggression following chronic stress relative to long allele homozygotes. The strength of chronic stress G × E did not vary according to sex. Variation at 5-HTTLPR appears to contribute to individual differences in aggressive reactions to chronic stress at the transition to adulthood.

Language: en