Using dyadic genetic information on older couples, this study queried associations of a polygenic score for well-being with one’s own as well as a partner’s relationship experiences.
Method
Data were from the 2010 wave of the U.S. Health and Retirement Study. Analysis was through structural equation modeling.
Results
Especially among women, the genetic score was associated with individuals’ own relationship experiences. Genetic externalities—linkages of one’s genes with a partner’s experiences—were also observed. No significant gender variations emerged.
Discussion
Contrary to conceptions implicit in much of existing genetics literature—which focuses on individuals’ own gene–trait associations—the interpersonal environments most crucial to life course and health outcomes are shaped by the genes of all involved actors. Genetic externalities are a central component. Implications for the life course and gene–environment literatures are discussed.
AllenS. M. (1994). Gender differences in spousal caregiving and unmet need for care. Journals of Gerontology, 49, S187–S195.
2.
AntonucciT. C.BirdittK. S.AjrouchK. (2011). Convoys of social relations: Past, present, and future. In FingermanK. L.BergC. A.SmithJ.AntonucciT. C. (Eds.), Handbook of life-span development (pp. 161–182). Springer.
3.
AvinunR.KnafoA. (2014). Parenting as a reaction evoked by children’s genotype: A meta-analysis of children-as-twins studies. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 18, 87–102.
4.
BartelsM. (2015). Genetics of happiness, satisfaction with life, and wellbeing: A review and meta-analysis of heritability studies. Behavior Genetics, 45, 137–156.
5.
BartonN.HermissonJ.NordborgM. (2019). Why structure matters: Great care is needed when interpreting claims about the genetic basis of human variation based on data from genome-wide association studies. eLife, 8. Article no. e45380.
6.
BarnesJ. C.BeaverK. M.YoungJ. T. N.TenEyckM. (2014). A behavior genetic analysis of the tendency for youth to associate according to GPA. Social Networks, 38, 41–49.
7.
BaselmansB. M. L.WillemsY. E.van BeijsterveldtC. E. M.LigthartL.WillemsenG.DolanC. V.BoomsmaD. IBartelsM. (2018). Unraveling the genetic and environmental relationship between well-being and depressive symptoms throughout the lifespan. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9. Article no. 261.
8.
BassS.CaroF. (2001). Productive aging: A conceptual framework. In Morrow-HowellN.HinterlongJ.SherradenM. (Eds.), Productive aging: Concepts and challenges (pp. 37–80). Johns Hopkins University Press.
9.
BaudA.MulliganM. K.CasaleF. P.IngelsJ. F.BohlC. J.CallebertJ.LaunayJ. M.KrohnJ.LegarraA.WilliamsR. W.StegleO. (2017). Genetic variation in the social environment contributes to health and disease. PLoS Genetics, 13, e1006498. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1006498
10.
BirdittK. S.NewtonN. J.CranfordJ. A.RyanL. H. (2015). Stress and negative relationship quality among older couples: Implications for blood pressure. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 71, 775–785.
11.
BonacichP. (1987). Power and centrality: A family of measures. American Journal of Sociology, 92, 1170–1182.
12.
CheesmanR.SelzamS.RonaldA.DaleP.S.McAdamsT. A.EleyT. C.PlominR. (2017). Childhood behaviour problems show the greatest gap between DNA-based and twin heritability. Translational Psychiatry, 7. Article no.1284.
13.
ChoiH.YorgasonJ. B.JohnsonD. R. (2016). Marital quality and health in middle and later adulthood: Dyadic associations. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 71, 154–164.
14.
ChristakisN. A.FowlerJ. H. (2014). Friendship and natural selection. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111, 10796–10801.
15.
ConleyD. (2016). Socio-genomic research using genome-wide molecular data. Annual Review of Sociology, 42, 275–299.
16.
CookW. L.KennyD. A. (2005). The actor-partner interdependence model: A model of bidirectional effects in developmental studies. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29, 101–109.
17.
DasA. (2019). Transpersonal genetic effects among older U.S. couples: A longitudinal study. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbz151
18.
DasA.LaumannE. O.WaiteL. J. (2012). Sexual expression over the life course: Results from three landmark surveys. In DeLamaterJ.CarpenterL. (Eds.), Sexualities over the life course: Emerging perspectives (pp. 236–259). NYU Press.
19.
DienerE.LucasR. E.ScollonC. N. (2006). Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising the adaptation theory of well-being. American Psychologist, 61, 305–314.
20.
DomingueB. W.BelskyD. W. (2017). The Social genome: Current findings and implications for the study of human genetics. PLoS Genetics, 13, e1006615.
21.
DomingueB. W.BelskyD. W.FletcherJ. M.ConleyD.BoardmanJ. D.HarrisK. M. (2018). The social genome of friends and schoolmates in the national longitudinal study of adolescent to adult health. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115, 702–707.
22.
DrefahlS. (2010). How does the age gap between partners affect their survival?Demography, 47, 313–326.
23.
ElamK. K.ChassinL.Lemery-ChalfantK.PandikaD.WangF. L.BountressK.…AgrawalA. (2017). Affiliation with substance-using peers: Examining gene-environment correlations among parent monitoring, polygenic risk, and children’s impulsivity. Developmental Psychobiology, 59, 561–573.
24.
ElamK. K.ChassinL.PandikaD. (2018). Polygenic risk, family cohesion, and adolescent aggression in Mexican American and European American families: Developmental pathways to alcohol use. Development and Psychopathology, 30, 1715–1728.
25.
ElwertFWinshipC. (2014). Endogenous selection bias: The problem of conditioning on a collider variable. Annual Review of Sociology, 40, 31–53.
26.
HaworthS.MitchellR.CorbinL.WadeK. H.DuddingT.Budu-AggreyA.CarslakeD.HemaniG.PaternosterL.SmithG. D.DaviesN.LawsonD. J.TimpsonN. J. (2019). Apparent latent structure within the UK Biobank sample has implications for epidemiological analysis. Nature Communications, 10, Article. no.333.
27.
Holt-LunstadJ.SmithT. B.LaytonJ. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. PLoS Medicine, 7, e1000316.
28.
HorwitzB. N.NeiderhiserJ. M.GanibanJ. M.SpottsE. L.LichtensteinP.ReissD. (2010). Genetic and environmental influences on global family conflict. Journal of Family Psychology: Journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association, 24, 217–220.
29.
JohnsonM. P. (2006). Conflict and control: Gender symmetry and asymmetry in domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 12, 1003–1018.
30.
JoinerT. E.JrKatzJ. (1999). Contagion of depressive symptoms and mood: Meta-analytic review and explanations from cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal viewpoints. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 6, 149–164.
31.
JosephJ. (2014). The trouble with twin studies: A reassessment of twin research in the social and behavioral sciences. Taylor & Francis.
32.
KrapohlE.HanniganL. J.PingaultJ.-B.PatelH.KadevaN.CurtisC.BreenG.NewhouseS.EleyT. C.O’ReillyP. F.PlominR. (2017). Widespread covariation of early environmental exposures and trait-associated polygenic variation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114, 11727–11732.
33.
KendlerK. S.BakerJ. H. (2007). Genetic influences on measures of the environment: A systematic review. Psychological Medicine, 37, 615–626.
34.
KongA.ThorleifssonG.FriggeM. L.VilhjalmssonB. J.YoungA. I.ThorgeirssonT. E.BenonisdottirS.OddssonA.HalldorssonB. V.MassonG.GudbjartssonD. F.HelgasonA.BjornsdottirG.ThorsteinsdottirU.StefanssonK. (2018). The nature of nurture: Effects of parental genotypes. Science, 359, 424–428.
35.
LindauS. T.LaumannE. O.LevinsonW.WaiteL. J. (2003). Synthesis of scientific disciplines in pursuit of health: The interactive biopsychosocial model. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 46, S74–S86.
36.
LinkB. G.PhelanJ. (1995). Social conditions as fundamental causes of disease. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 80–94.
37.
MartinA. R.GignouxC. R.WaltersR. K.WojcikG. L.NealeB. M.GravelS.DalyM. J.BustamanteC. D.KennyE. E. (2017). Human demographic history impacts genetic risk prediction across diverse populations. American Journal of Human Genetics, 100, 635–649.
38.
McGuireS.SegalN. L.HershbergerS. (2012). Parenting as phenotype: A behavioral genetic approach to understanding parenting. Parenting, 12, 192–201.
39.
MunafòM. R.TillingK.TaylorA. E.EvansD. M.SmithG. D. (2018). Collider scope: When selection bias can substantially influence observed associations. International Journal of Epidemiology, 47, 226–235.
ParsonsT. (1951). The social system. The Free Press.
42.
PearlJ. (2009). Causality: Models, reasoning, and inference. Cambridge University Press.
43.
PetersonR. E.EdwardsA. C.BacanuS. -A.DickD. M.KendlerK. S.WebbB. T. (2017). The utility of empirically assigning ancestry groups in cross-population genetic studies of addiction. American Journal on Addictions, 26, 494–501.
Probst-HenschN. (2017). Happiness and its molecular fingerprints. International Review of Economics, 64, 197–211.
46.
RobardsJ.EvandrouM.FalkinghamJ.VlachantoniA. (2012). Marital status, health and mortality. Maturitas, 73, 295–299.
47.
RobinsonM. R.KleinmanA.GraffM.VinkhuyzenA. A. E.CouperD.MillerM. B.…VisscherP. M. (2017). Genetic evidence of assortative mating in humans. Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 0016.
48.
RoweJ. W.KahnR. L. (1997). Successful aging. The Gerontologist, 37, 433–440.
49.
SchwabeI.JanssL.van den BergS. M. (2017). Can we validate the results of twin studies? A census-based study on the heritability of educational achievement. Frontiers in Genetics, 8. Article no.160.
50.
SmithJ.RyanL. H.FisherG. G.SonnegaA.WeirD. R. (2017). HRS psychosocial and lifestyle questionnaire 2006–2016. Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
51.
SonnegaA.FaulJ. D.OfstedalM. B.LangaK. M.PhillipsJ. W. R.WeirD. R. (2014). Cohort profile: The health and retirement study (HRS). International Journal of Epidemiology, 43, 576–585.
52.
SotoudehR.HarrisK. M.ConleyD. (2019). Effects of the peer metagenomic environment on smoking behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116, 16302–16307.
53.
SpottsE. L.HanssonK.CederbladM.NeiderhiserJ. M.TowersH.LichtensteinP.PedersonN. L.ReissD. (2004). Genetic and environmental influences on marital relationships. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 107–119.
54.
SpottsE. L.PrescottC.KendlerK. (2006). Examining the origins of gender differences in marital quality: A behavior genetic analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 20, 605–613.
55.
StoneA. A.SchwartzJ. E.BroderickJ. E.DeatonA. (2010). A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 9985–9990.
56.
SunB.PerkinsN. J.ColeS. R.HarelO.MitchellE. M.SchistermanE. F.TchetgenE. J. (2018). Inverse-probability-weighted estimation for monotone and nonmonotone missing data. American Journal of Epidemiology, 187, 585–591.
57.
ThomeerM. B.ReczekC.UmbersonD. (2015). Gendered emotion work around physical health problems in mid- and later-life marriages. Journal of Aging Studies, 32, 12–22.
58.
VisscherP. M.YangJ. (2016). A plethora of pleiotropy across complex traits. Nature Genetics, 48, 707–708.
59.
WaiteL. J.DasA. (2010). Families, social life, and well being at older ages. Demography, 47, S87–S109.
60.
WalenH. R.LachmanM. E. (2000). Social support and strain from partner, family, and friends: Costs and benefits for men and women in adulthood. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17, 5–30.
61.
WangF. L.ChassinL.LeeM.HallerM.KingK. (2017). Roles of response inhibition and gene–environment interplay in pathways to adolescents’ externalizing problems. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 27, 258–277.
62.
WareE.SchmitzL.FaulJ.GardA.MitchellC.SmithJ. A.ZhaoW.WeirD.KardiaS. L. R. (2017, February5). Heterogeneity in polygenic scores for common human traits. BioRxiv 069187 [Preprint]. http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/106062
63.
WareE.SchmitzL.GardA.FaulJ. (2018). HRS polygenic scores—Release 3: 2006–2012 genetic data. Survey Research Center, University of Michigan.
64.
WeuveJ.Tchetgen TchetgenE. J.GlymourM. M.BeckT. L.AggarwalN. T.WilsonR. S.EvansD. A.Mendes de LeonC. F. (2012). Accounting for bias due to selective attrition: The example of smoking and cognitive decline. Epidemiology, 23, 119–128.
65.
World Health Organization. (1958). The first ten years of the World Health Organization. World Health Organization.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
