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Genetic Factors Influence Social Support

Social support is generally viewed as an environmental factor that mediates psychological well being and psychopathology. This study suggests that genetic factors also influence how individuals experience emotional aspects of social support.

Researchers assessed social support by personal interview on two occasions over five years in a community-based sample of 854 female twin pairs (497 monozygotic pairs). They identified six social support factors: relative or friend problems (reflecting the extent to which relatives or friends made too many demands, criticized them, or created tensions and arguments), relative or friend support (reflecting the frequency of contact with relatives or friends and the extent to which they cared for or expressed interest in the twin), the presence and number of confidants, and social integration (reflecting the numbers of friends, frequency of contact and attendance to clubs and organizations).

The six factors were moderately stable over time. Both genetic and environmental factors (about 45% and 25%, respectively) accounted for twin resemblance in relative problems and relative support. However, twin resemblance in friend problems, friend support, confidants, and social integration was due entirely to genetic factors.

Comment: This study supports the view that constitutionally shaped temperaments powerfully influence the way individuals perceive and interact with the world. The data are limited by the reliance on self-reports of perceived support. Still, it is noteworthy that confidants and social integration had the strongest genetic influences, even though they were the least vulnerable to distortion since they reflected simple accounts of numbers of people and events. Field studies are needed to determine the extent to which twin resemblance describes subjectively experienced support or actual social support.

— J Yager

Published in Journal Watch Psychiatry December 1, 1997

Citation(s):

Kendler K. Social support: A genetic-epidemiologic analysis. Am J Psychiatry 1997 Oct 154 1398-1404.

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