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Familial Aggregation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Published in Stephen D. Litwin, Genetic Determinants of Pulmonary Disease, 2020
Bernice H. Cohen, Gary A. Chase
In a disease like tuberculosis which has a recognized necessary infectious agent but a variable course, differential susceptibility to that agent probably depends not only on environmental factors (e.g., poor housing, crowding, malnutrition) but also on a hereditary component influencing susceptibility [4850]. However, with disease manifestations ranging from subclinical infection without recognizable morbidity to a severe pulmonary disease running a rapid downhill course to death, the role of genetic factors in susceptibility, response to treatment, prognosis, and survivorship is difficult to delineate. That inherited differences are quite significant in tuberculosis has been suggested by various twin studies [50-52]. Very speculative is another aspect of the role of genetic factors in tuberculosis: the postulated increased resistance to the deleterious manifestations of tuberculosis for carriers of the Tay-Sachs gene, as discussed below [53,54]. It is also of interest that one of the drugs commonly used in tuberculosis treatment since the early 1950s, isoniazide (1NH) shows a bimodal distribution in its rate of inactivation by different individuals. It is now well established that this bimodality is genetically determined [55].* What this inherited differential response to pharmacologic agents implies with regard to the role of genetic factors in tuberculosis is not yet apparent [56-57]. Nevertheless, it does emphasize that multiple factors—genetic as well as environmental—are likely involved not only in the clinical manifestation but also in the treatment and prognosis of tuberculosis.
Understanding the association between childhood maltreatment and depression from a biological perspective
Published in Philip N. Murphy, The Routledge International Handbook of Psychobiology, 2018
Genetic sensitivity to one’s environment may not only involve adverse but also positive influences (Belsky & Pluess, 2009). According to the differential susceptibility hypothesis, people who are genetically sensitive to negative experiences (e.g., short carriers of 5-HTTLPR) may also benefit most from supportive and enriching environments (Belsky & Pluess, 2009). The results from one study, for example, showed that males with the short allele for 5-HTTLPR reported significantly fewer depressive symptoms when they received high-quality family support, but those who were subject to poor family support had significantly higher depression scores compared to the long/long group (Li, Berk, & Lee, 2013). The findings from a meta-analysis provide support for 5-HTTLPR as a genetic marker for differential susceptibility for developmental outcomes (including depression) (van IJzendoorn, Belsky, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2012). However, for firm conclusions to be drawn, more research is needed, focused specifically on depression.
Nature or nurture?
Published in David Cohen, How the child's mind develops, 2017
Two different theories claim that individuals should differ in their developmental plasticity and susceptibility to environmental influence: Belsky’s differential-susceptibility hypothesis (Belsky and Pluess 2009a) and Boyce and Ellis’s biological-sensitivity-to-context thesis (Ellis, Jackson and Boyce 2006). They’re not mutually exclusive, however. The former emphasises nature in shaping individual differences in plasticity, without excluding nurture; the latter emphasises nurture, without excluding nature.
The Different Faces of (High) Sensitivity, Toward a More Comprehensive Measurement Instrument. Development and Validation of the Sensory Processing Sensitivity Questionnaire (SPSQ)
Published in Journal of Personality Assessment, 2022
Véronique De Gucht, Dion H. A. Woestenburg, Tom F. Wilderjans
Finally, future research with the SPSQ could also focus on the theoretical foundations of SPS, in two different but complementary ways. First, whereas sensitivity to environmental influences was initially considered a factor that makes people more vulnerable to (physical and psychological) distress, more recent theories and models assume that sensitive individuals respond more strongly to both positive and negative stimuli. One of these theories is Differential Susceptibility (Belsky & Pluess, 2009). As the SPSQ was developed with the aim of identifying both the positive and negative aspects of SPS, it may be interesting to test the SPSQ in terms of differential susceptibility. A possible way of doing this is to form four groups on the basis of the SPSQ, namely (a) a group that scores high on the positive dimension and medium to low on the negative dimension, (b) a group that scores high on the negative dimension and medium to low on the positive dimension, (c) a group that scores high on both dimensions, and (d) a group that scores low on both dimensions. An experimental design can be used to investigate whether these four groups respond differently to negative versus positive stimuli.
A lack of association between online pornography exposure, sexual functioning, and mental well-being
Published in Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 2020
Ruth Charig, Nima G. Moghaddam, David L. Dawson, Hannah L. Merdian, Roshan das Nair
One of the central propositions of the DSMM is the notion of media effects being indirect: i.e., that individual response-states (such as cognitive appraisals of the media) mediate the relationship between media-exposure and effects. Perceived realism has been highlighted as a potentially important mediating variable, accounting for individual differences in susceptibility to sexual media stimuli (Baams et al., 2015). The DSMM further proposes the role of conditional media effects or moderators, which serve to enhance or reduce the effects. These conditional effects depend on three classes of differential-susceptibility variables: dispositional (e.g., gender), developmental (e.g., life-stage), and social (e.g., familial context). The third proposition relevant to the current study purports that these differential-susceptibility variables (or moderating variables) can not only predict media-use but enhance or attenuate media-effects, by influencing how the individual responds to the media. This is comparable to a type of moderated mediation whereby the strength of the mediation effect on a variable is contingent on the level of the moderator (Preacher, Rucker, & Hayes, 2007). The DSMM also describes the transactional nature of media-use and effects as a reciprocal process, in which the media effect influences subsequent media use.
Pubertal Timing, Parenting Style, and Trajectories of Pornography Use in Adolescence: Peer Pornography Use as the Mediator
Published in The Journal of Sex Research, 2020
Hsi-Ping Nieh, Ling-Yin Chang, Hsing-Yi Chang, Tung-Liang Chiang, Lee-Lan Yen
Based on the Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model, this study examined the individual factors associated with pornography use trajectories among adolescents. In conclusion, pubertal timing and parenting style influenced adolescents’ trajectories of pornography use, and the effect was mediated by peer pornography use, especially for boys. This finding provides significant insight into the complexity of the mechanism of peer influence on adolescents’ behaviors and development. Understanding differential susceptibility helps educators and policymakers to generate the right program and strategies.