Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

Therapygenetics: the 5HTTLPR and response to psychological therapy

Molecular Psychiatry volume 17, pages 236–237 (2012)Cite this article

Although pharmacogenetic research thrives,1 genetic determinants of response to purely psychotherapeutic treatments remain unexplored. In a sample of children undergoing cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for an anxiety disorder, we tested whether treatment response is associated with the serotonin transporter gene promoter region (5HTTLPR), previously shown to moderate environmental influences on depression. Children with short-short genotype were significantly more likely to respond to CBT than those carrying a long allele.

There is considerable evidence of association between anxiety/depression and the 5HTTLPR, particularly in response to stress.2 Moreover, the low-expression S allele, typically associated with poorer outcomes following stress, is also associated with better outcomes under low stress and may reflect sensitivity to the environment.3 We hypothesised that this allele would be associated with enhanced response to psychological therapies.4

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

References

  1. Keers R, Aitchison KJ. . Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics 2011; 11: 101–125.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Karg K, Burmeister M, Shedden K, Sen S . Arch Gen Psychiatry, 3 January 2010, 2011.

  3. Belsky J, Jonassaint C, Pluess M, Stanton M, Brummett B, Williams R . Mol Psychiatry 2009; 14: 746–754.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Uher R . Mol Psychiatry 2008; 13: 1070–1078.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lyneham HJ, Abbott MJ, Wignall A, Rapee RM . The Cool Kids Anxiety Treatment Programme. MUARU, Macquarie University: Sydney, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Lovibond PF, Lovibond SH . Behav Res Ther 1995; 33: 335–343.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Schosser A, Gaysina D, Cohen-Woods S, Chow PC, Martucci L, Craddock N et al. Mol Psychiatry 2010; 15: 844–849.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lonsdorf TB, Ruck C, Bergstrom J, Andersson G, Ohman A, Lindefors N et al. BMC Psychiatry 2010; 10: 9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Steiger H, Joober R, Gauvin L, Bruce KR, Richardson J, Israel M et al. J Clin Psychiat 2008; 69: 1565–1571.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. James A, Soler A, Weatherall R . Cochrane review: Cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2007, pp 1248–1275; doi:10.1002/ebch.206/.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

    T C Eley, M Tropeano, K J Lester, A Farmer, C M Lewis, R Uher, H M S Zavos & D A Collier

  2. Department of Psychology, Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    J L Hudson, H J Lyneham & R M Rapee

  3. Winnicott Research Unit, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK

    C Creswell & P Cooper

Authors
  1. T C Eley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J L Hudson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C Creswell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M Tropeano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. K J Lester
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. P Cooper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. A Farmer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. C M Lewis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. H J Lyneham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. R M Rapee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. R Uher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. H M S Zavos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. D A Collier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to T C Eley.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Molecular Psychiatry website

Supplementary information

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Eley, T., Hudson, J., Creswell, C. et al. Therapygenetics: the 5HTTLPR and response to psychological therapy. Mol Psychiatry 17, 236–237 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2011.132

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2011.132

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links