ArticlePsychotherapy and psychosomatics2016
A Genome-Wide Test of the Differential Susceptibility Hypothesis Reveals a Genetic Predictor of Differential Response to Psychological Treatments for Child Anxiety Disorders.
Article in Psychotherapy and psychosomatics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 132 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genetics of monozygotic twins reveals the impact of environmental sensitivity on psychiatric and neurodevelopmental phenotypes.Nature human behaviour · 2025Pooled it
- Genetic Variants Associated With Resilience in Human and Animal Studies.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Annual Research Review: Umbrella synthesis of meta-analyses on child maltreatment antecedents and interventions: differential susceptibility perspective on risk and resilience.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2020Pooled it
- A genome-wide association meta-analysis of prognostic outcomes following cognitive behavioural therapy in individuals with anxiety and depressive disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Conduct Problems and Hair Cortisol Concentrations Decrease in School-Aged Children after VIPP-SD: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Two Twin Cohorts.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Video-feedback promotes sensitive limit-setting in parents of twin preschoolers: a randomized controlled trial.BMC psychology · 2021Trial
- Trajectories and Predictors of Children's Early-Starting Conduct Problems: Child, Family, Genetic, and Intervention Effects.Development and psychopathology · 2019Trial
- Trial
- The Relationship Between Mental Health, Disease Severity, and Genetic Risk for Depression in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis.Psychosomatic medicineTrial
- Genetic sensitivity to the environment moderates the impact of positive and negative childhood experiences on psychological adjustment "for good and for bad".European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Article
- Environmental sensitivity and psychosocial characteristics in junior high school students with school refusal.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Time to incorporate positive experiences and outcomes in psychosis research: genetic differential susceptibility to childhood experiences works for "better and for worse".Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- Interactions between infant characteristics and parenting factors rarely replicate across cohorts and developmental domains.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Article
- Research Review: A review of the past decade of family and genomic studies on adolescent mental health.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Review
- Genetic Susceptibility to the Environment Moderates the Impact of Childhood Experiences on Psychotic, Depressive, and Anxiety Dimensions.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2025Article
- Genetic Differences in Reactivity to the Environment Impact Psychotic-Like and Affective Reactivity in Daily Life.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2025Article
- A western dietary pattern during pregnancy is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and adolescence.Nature metabolism · 2025Article
- Key Taxa of the Gut Microbiome Associated with the Relationship Between Environmental Sensitivity and Inflammation-Related Biomarkers.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- The interplay among environmental sensitivity, job stressors, and leadership styles on employee well-being.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The role of environmental sensitivity in the mental health of Syrian refugee children: a multi-level analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 10 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe differential susceptibly hypothesis suggests that certain genetic variants moderate the effects of both negative and positive environments on mental health and may therefore be important predictors of response to psychological treatments. Nevertheless, the identification of such variants has so far been limited to preselected candidate genes. In this study we extended the differential susceptibility hypothesis from a candidate gene to a genome-wide approach to test whether a polygenic score of environmental sensitivity predicted response to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in children with anxiety disorders.
methodsWe identified variants associated with environmental sensitivity using a novel method in which within-pair variability in emotional problems in 1,026 monozygotic twin pairs was examined as a function of the pairs' genotype. We created a polygenic score of environmental sensitivity based on the whole-genome findings and tested the score as a moderator of parenting on emotional problems in 1,406 children and response to individual, group and brief parent-led CBT in 973 children with anxiety disorders.
resultsThe polygenic score significantly moderated the effects of parenting on emotional problems and the effects of treatment. Individuals with a high score responded significantly better to individual CBT than group CBT or brief parent-led CBT (remission rates: 70.9, 55.5 and 41.6%, respectively).
conclusionsPending successful replication, our results should be considered exploratory. Nevertheless, if replicated, they suggest that individuals with the greatest environmental sensitivity may be more likely to develop emotional problems in adverse environments but also benefit more from the most intensive types of treatment.
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