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Effect of COMT Val158Met polymorphism on personality traits and educational attainment in a longitudinal population representative study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

K. Lehto ,
K. Akkermann ,
J. Parik ,
T. Veidebaum  and
J. Harro
K. Lehto
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Estonian Centre of Behavioural and Health Sciences, University of Tartu, Ravila 14A, 50410Tartu, Estonia
K. Akkermann
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Estonian Centre of Behavioural and Health Sciences, University of Tartu, Ravila 14A, 50410Tartu, Estonia
J. Parik
Affiliation:
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Estonian Biocentre, University of Tartu, 51010Tartu, Estonia
T. Veidebaum
Affiliation:
National Institute for Health Development, Estonian Centre of Behavioural and Health Sciences, 11619Tallinn, Estonia
J. Harro*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Estonian Centre of Behavioural and Health Sciences, University of Tartu, Ravila 14A, 50410Tartu, Estonia
*
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +372 7 375 766; fax: +372 7 375 900. E-mail address:jaanus.harro@ut.ee (J. Harro).
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Abstract

The COMT Val158Met polymorphism has been associated with anxiety and affective disorders, but its effect on anxiety-related personality traits varies between studies. Our purpose was to investigate the effect of COMT Val158Met on personality traits from adolescence to young adulthood in a population representative Caucasian birth cohort. Also its association with educational attainment and anxiety and mood disorders by the age 25 were examined. This analysis is based on the older cohort of the Estonian Children Personality Behavior and Health Study (original number of subjects 593). The personality traits were assessed when the participants were 15, 18 and 25 years old. COMT Val158Met had an effect on Neuroticism in females by age 25 (p = 0.001, Bonferroni-corrected for five traits), whereas female Val homozygotes scored the highest. In addition, the Conscientiousness scores of subjects with Val/Val genotype were decreasing in time, being the lowest by the age 25 (p = 0.006, Bonferroni-corrected for five traits). By the age 25, males with the Val/Met genotype had mainly secondary or vocational education, whereas female heterozygotes mostly had obtained or were obtaining university education. COMT Val158Met was not associated with anxiety or mood disorders in either gender. These results suggest that genes affecting dopamine system are involved in the development of personality traits and contribute to educational attainment.

Keywords

Affective disordersChild DevelopmentEpidemiologyGeneticsNeurotransmittersSocial and cross-cultural psychiatry
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 28 , Issue 8 , October 2013 , pp. 492 - 498
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS

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