Genetic architecture of Environmental Sensitivity reflects multiple heritable components: a twin study with adolescents

Abstract

Humans differ substantially in how strongly they respond to similar experiences. Theory suggests that such individual differences in susceptibility to environmental influences have a genetic basis. The present study investigated the genetic architecture of Environmental Sensitivity (ES) by estimating its heritability, exploring the presence of multiple heritable components and its genetic overlap with common personality traits. ES was measured with the Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) questionnaire and heritability estimates were obtained using classic twin design methodology in a sample of 2868 adolescent twins. Results indicate that the heritability of sensitivity was 0.47, and that the genetic influences underlying sensitivity to negative experiences are relatively distinct from sensitivity to more positive aspects of the environment, supporting a multi-dimensional genetic model of ES. The correlation between sensitivity, neuroticism and extraversion was largely explained by shared genetic influences, with differences between these traits mainly attributed to unique environmental influences operating on each trait.

Environmental sensitivity and cardiac vagal tone as moderators of the relationship between family support and well-being in low SES children: An exploratory study

“…According to empirical studies (Belsky & Pluess, 2009;Golberg & Scharf, 2020;Greven et al, 2019), a significant minority of individuals is characterized by heightened sensitivity, therefore benefitting more from positive environments, but also being more prone to maladaptation in adverse conditions. Thus far, theories have proposed that biologically based factors such as genetic variation, early temperament, and physiology are markers of this innate tendency (Assary et al, 2020;Boyce, 2016;Slagt et al, 2016).…”

Sensory Processing Sensitivity Predicts Individual Differences in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Associated with Depth of Processing

“…Individual differences in SPS are determined by both biological factors and environmental influences, including early-childhood and developmental circumstances [4]. SPS has been associated with various candidate genes [5-8], and twin studies have shown that its heritability is about 0.47 [9], similar to other temperament traits thought to be genetically based (the “missing” genetic association being best explained by the complexity of the inheritance of traits [10]).…”

The Personality Trait of Environmental Sensitivity Predicts Children’s Positive Response to School-Based Antibullying Intervention

“…The vantage sensitivity framework (Pluess & Belsky, 2013) specifically proposes individual differences in response to positive experiences and provides the theoretical basis for the hypothesis that some children are more likely than others to benefit from intervention (e.g., antibullying programs) because of their heightened sensitivity to positive aspects of the environment. The hypothesized mechanism underlying such differences is that some children register contextual changes that result from schoolwide antibullying programs more easily and more deeply than other children because of heightened environmental sensitivity (Pluess, 2015; Pluess et al, 2018), a stable and heritable personality trait (Assary, Zavos, Krapohl, Keers, & Pluess, 2018) characterized by heightened behavior inhibition, emotional reactivity, sensitivity to subtle stimuli, and deeper cognitive processing of environmental stimuli (as proposed by sensory sensitivity processing theory; Aron, Aron, & Jagiellowicz, 2012). According to the neurosensitivity hypothesis (Aron & Aron, 1997; Pluess & Belsky, 2013), individual differences in environmental sensitivity may reflect a more sensitive central nervous system.…”