2860 – Reappraisal Mediates the Link Between 5-HTTLPR and Social Anxiety Symptoms

Mounting evidence suggests that social anxiety symptoms are related to(1)polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene promoter region (5-HTTLPR) and(2)reduced use of adaptive forms of emotion regulation such as reappraisal.It is not known, however, whether reappraisal mediates the link between 5-HTTLPR and social anxiety. Participants to this study were unselected community volunteers, all Caucasians from a circumscribed geographical area. They were genetically tested for 5-HTTLPR status, and self-report measures of social anxiety symptoms and reappraisal use were obtained. The results indicated that participants with one or two low-expressing alleles displayed increased social anxiety symptoms and reduced levels of cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal significantly mediated the influence of 5-HTTLPR on social anxiety symptoms, and this effect was evident on two different measures of reappraisal. Therefore, this study shows that cognitive reappraisal is a major intermediate phenotype of the social anxiety spectrum. Our correlational results suggest that individuals with low-expressing 5-HTTLPR genotypes may benefit the most from cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy because they do not appear to engage as frequently as others in reappraisal.