Involvement of the BDNF gene in loneliness in adolescence: a report of opposite gene effects in boys and girls

Previous research has shown that loneliness has a heritable component and that genes within the serotonin-, dopamine-, and oxytocin systems are related to loneliness in adolescence. In the present study, the relation between the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and loneliness in adolescent boys and girls...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-03, Vol.9 (3), p.e92768-e92768
Main Authors: Verhagen, Maaike, van Roekel, Eeske, Engels, Rutger C M E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescence
Adolescent
Adolescents
Behavior
Biology and Life Sciences
Brain
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - genetics
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor - metabolism
Child
Child development
Cognitive biases
Correlation analysis
DNA methylation
Dopamine
Emotions
Female
Gene-Environment Interaction
Genes
Genetic aspects
Genotype
Girls
Humans
Loneliness
Longitudinal studies
Male
Males
Medicine and Health Sciences
Memory
Mental depression
Oxytocin
Polymorphism
Psychiatry
Psychopathology
Serotonin
Sex
Social networks
Social Sciences
Studies
Teenagers
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Summary:Previous research has shown that loneliness has a heritable component and that genes within the serotonin-, dopamine-, and oxytocin systems are related to loneliness in adolescence. In the present study, the relation between the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and loneliness in adolescent boys and girls was examined in a longitudinal study spanning five annual waves (N = 305). Latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) was used to examine the baseline level and the change in loneliness over time. The main finding was that the BDNF gene was not related to loneliness in the total sample. A BDNF by sex interaction was found, in that Met carrying girls had the highest levels of loneliness at baseline, whereas in boys the ValVal genotype was related to higher levels of loneliness. Our results underline the importance of sex-stratified analyses when examining effects of the BDNF genotype and the necessity of conducting gene studies to intermediate phenotypes of loneliness.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0092768