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Studies of the interaction between childhood stress and the short (s) allele polymorphism of the serotonin transporter promoter (5-HTTLPR) have had inconsistent results (JW Psychiatry Feb 7 2011). Two new reports and a review illustrate the complicated interactions of this gene with others (epistasis) and with environmental factors.
In Pleuss and colleagues' study involving 1513 Dutch mother–infant pairs, infant “negative emotionality” (e.g., distress to limitations) was associated with maternal anxiety during pregnancy — but only in infants with one or two s alleles. The association was stronger in s homozygotes than in heterozygotes, and in both groups, the greater the prenatal anxiety, the more negative emotionality in infants. For s/s in…