Abstract
Gene-by-environment interaction (GxEs) studies have gained popularity over the last decade, but the robustness of such observed interactions has been questioned. The current study contributes to this debate by replicating the only study on the interaction between the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and perceived parental support on adolescents’ peer-related loneliness. A total of 1,111 adolescents (51% boys) with an average age of 13.70 years (SD = 0.93) participated and three annual waves of data were collected. At baseline, adolescent-reported parental support and peer-related loneliness were assessed and genetic information was collected. Assessment of peer-related loneliness was repeated at Waves 2 and 3. Using a cohort-sequential design, a Latent Growth Curve Model was estimated. Overall, a slight increase of loneliness over time was found. However, the development of loneliness over time was found to be different for boys and girls: girls’ levels of loneliness increased over time, whereas boys’ levels of loneliness decreased. Parental support was inversely related to baseline levels of loneliness, but unrelated to change of loneliness over time. We were unable to replicate the main effect of 5-HTTLPR or the 5-HTTLPR x Support interaction effect. In the Discussion, we examine the implications of our non-replication.
Highlights
The concept of Gene-by-Environment interactions (GxE) refers to the idea that the effect of the environment on the individual’s phenotype depends on this individual’s genotype [1]
We examined the functional polymorphism, consisting of a short and a long version, in the promoter region (5-HTTLPR) of the serotonin transporter gene
It should be noted that these descriptive statistics were comparable to the ones reported in the van Roekel et al study [11]
Summary
The concept of Gene-by-Environment interactions (GxE) refers to the idea that the effect of the environment on the individual’s phenotype depends on this individual’s genotype [1]. GxE studies have become increasingly popular [2], the robustness of such interactions has been questioned as many replication attempts yielded non-significant results [3, 4]. 5-HTTLPR, Parental Support, and Adolescent Loneliness in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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