Association and linkage of anxiety-related traits with a functional polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene regulatory region in Israeli sibling pairs

A functional polymorphism in the regulatory region of the serotonin transpo rter gene (5-HTTLPR) has been reported to be both associated and linked to anxiety-related personality measures, although other studies have not repli cated these findings. The current study examines both association and linka ge of the gene to two major anxiety-related personality measures, the harm avoidance scale on the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and the neu roticism scale of the NEO-PI-R, in a sample of 148 Israeli subjects compris ing 74 same-sex sibling pairs. We replicated the reported association betwe en the short allele and higher scores on the TPQ harm avoidance scale (P=0. 03), including the subscale of shyness (P=0.02), and also found association in the same direction between the short allele and the NEO-PI-R neuroticis m subscales of anxiety (P = 0.03) and depression (P = 0.04). Sib-pair linka ge analysis, using the regression method, further supported a role of the 5 -HTTLPR in anxiety-related personality traits.