Genetic and Environmental Influences on Stressful Life Events and their Associations with Executive Functions in Young A
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Stressful Life Events and their Associations with Executive Functions in Young Adulthood: A Longitudinal Twin Analysis Claire L. Morrison1,2 · Soo Hyun Rhee1,2 · Harry R. Smolker1,2 · Robin P. Corley2 · John K. Hewitt1,2 · Naomi P. Friedman1,2 Received: 3 April 2020 / Accepted: 14 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Although stress is frequently considered an environmental factor, dependent stressful life events (SLEs)––stressors that result from one’s actions or behaviors––may in fact be evoked by a genetic liability. It has been suggested that dependent SLEs may be partially caused by poor executive function (EFs), higher-level cognitive abilities that enable individuals to implement goal-directed behavior. We investigated the possibility of genetic and environmental overlap between SLEs and EFs in a longitudinal twin study. We found high genetic stability in the number of dependent SLEs from age 23 to age 29, suggesting that the number of dependent stressors show persistence across time due to their genetic etiology. In addition, there was a nominally significant negative genetic correlation between a Common EF latent factor and dependent SLEs at age 23. The genetic stability of dependent SLEs and association with Common EF provides insight into how some behaviors may lead to persistent stress. Keywords Dependent stress · Independent stress · Executive control · Genetic correlation · Behavior genetics · Twins
Introduction Stress can lead to a range of health problems, affecting both physical and mental health (Cohen et al. 1993; Conway et al. 2012). Although stress is frequently considered an environmental factor, dependent stressful life events (SLEs)––stressors that result from one’s own actions or behaviors, such as trouble with relationships or work––may be evoked partially by a genetic liability to put oneself in stressful situations (Bemmels et al. 2008). In contrast, Edited by Yoon-Mi Hur. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-020-10017-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Claire L. Morrison Claire.morrison‑[email protected] 1
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, 447 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
2
independent SLEs––stressors that are random and uncontrollable, such as one’s parent dying or a natural disaster––have smaller heritabilities (Bemmels et al. 2008). Behavior genetic research typically shows genetic influences on traits to be stable over time, whereas environmental influences on traits are often more time specific (e.g., Briley and TuckerDrob 2017; Nes et al. 2007). Snyder and Hankin (2016) posited that dependent SLEs may be at least partially caused by poor executive function abilities (EFs), higher-level cognitive abilities that enable indivi
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