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Effects of Genotype and Sleep on Temperament

Andrée-Anne Bouvette-Turcot¹, Michael Pluess², Annie Bernier³

¹Ludmer Center for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, and Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal Canada; Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada; andree-anne.bouvette-turcot@umontreal.ca.

|September 16, 2015

Insights

Children with low-expressing serotonin transporter gene variants show increased sensitivity to sleep duration

Area of Science:

Developmental Psychology
Behavioral Genetics
Neuroscience

Background:

Sleep problems are common in young children, but their impact varies.
The serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) influences emotional regulation.
Individual differences in sleep quality effects are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if a serotonin transporter gene polymorphism moderates the effect of sleep duration on infant temperament.
To examine the interaction between sleep duration and 5-HTTLPR genotype on emotional development.

Main Methods:

Longitudinal study of 209 children from 6 to 36 months.
Assessed average sleep duration and 5-HTTLPR genotype (rs23351).
Measured negative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation at 36 months using maternal self-report.

Main Results:

A significant interaction was found between sleep duration and 5-HTTLPR genotype.
This interaction affected negative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation.
The effect of sleep duration was significant only in children with low-expressing 5-HTTLPR genotypes.

Conclusions:

Results suggest differential susceptibility to early-life sleep duration.
The short allele of 5-HTTLPR may indicate heightened environmental sensitivity.
This highlights the role of genetic factors in emotional development in response to sleep.

Read full analysis

Abstract

Background And Objectives:

Sleep problems are frequent in young children; however, children vary in the degree to which they are affected by poor sleep quality. We investigated whether a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene, which is linked to emotional function, is a potential moderator of the influences of sleep duration on infant temperament using longitudinal data.

Methods:

We examined the interactive effects of average sleep duration between 6 and 36 months of age and the 5-HTTLPR genotype on negative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation at 36 months in 209 children recruited into a longitudinal birth cohort study. Triallelic genotyping of 5-HTTLPR was performed by looking at SLC6A4 genotype, focusing on the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) including the SNP polymorphism (rs23351). Child sleep habits were assessed with a maternal self-report questionnaire.

Results:

After controlling for demographics and both previous and concurrent maternal depression, multiple linear regression analyses revealed a significant interaction effect of average sleep duration for the first 3 years of life and 5-HTTLPR genotype on child negative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation such that the effects were exclusive to those with low-expressing 5-HTTLPR genotypes.

Conclusions:

The results suggest differential susceptibility to the effect of sleep duration early in life, which reiterates that the short allele of the 5-HTTLPR represents a marker of increased environmental sensitivity regarding emotional development. Differential susceptibility theory posits that certain factors may increase an individual's susceptibility to the environment, in either a positive or negative fashion.

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