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bioRxiv · 10.1101/032789

Genetic Associations with Subjective Well-Being Also Implicate Depression and Neuroticism

Aysu Okbay·Bart M. L. Baselmans·Jan-Emmanuel De Neve·Patrick Turley·Michel G. Nivard·Mark A. Fontana·Fleur S. W. Meddens·Richard Karlsson Linnér·Cornelius A. Rietveld·Jaime Derringer·Jacob Gratten·James J. Lee·Jimmy Z. Liu·Ronald de Vlaming·Dalton C. Conley·George Davey Smith·Albert Hofman·Magnus Johannesson·David I. Laibson·Sarah E. Medland·Michelle N. Meyer·Joseph K. Pickrell·Tonu Esko·Robert F. Krueger·Jonathan P. Beauchamp·Philipp D. Koellinger·Daniel J. Benjamin·Meike Bartels·David Cesarini·Social Science Genetic Association Consortium
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Abstract

We conducted a genome-wide association study of subjective well-being (SWB) in 298,420 individuals. We also performed auxiliary analyses of depressive symptoms (\"DS\"; N = 161,460) and neuroticism (N = 170,910), both of which have a substantial genetic correlation with SWB [Formula]. We identify three SNPs associated with SWB at genome-wide significance. Two of them are significantly associated with DS in an independent sample. In our auxiliary analyses, we identify 13 additional genome-wide-significant associations: two with DS and eleven with neuroticism, including two inversion polymorphisms. Across our phenotypes, loci regulating expression in central nervous system and adrenal/pancreas tissues are enriched. The discovery of genetic loci associated with the three phenotypes we study has proven elusive; our findings illustrate the payoffs from studying them jointly.\n\nOne Sentence Summary: Using both genome-wide association studies and proxy-phenotype studies, we identify genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism.

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Aysu Okbay, Bart M. L. Baselmans, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Patrick Turley, Michel G. Nivard, Mark A. Fontana, Fleur S. W. Meddens, Richard Karlsson Linnér, Cornelius A. Rietveld, Jaime Derringer, Jacob Gratten, James J. Lee, Jimmy Z. Liu, Ronald de Vlaming, Dalton C. Conley, George Davey Smith, Albert Hofman, Magnus Johannesson, David I. Laibson, Sarah E. Medland, Michelle N. Meyer, Joseph K. Pickrell, Tonu Esko, Robert F. Krueger, Jonathan P. Beauchamp, Philipp D. Koellinger, Daniel J. Benjamin, Meike Bartels, David Cesarini, Social Science Genetic Association Consortium. 2015-11-24. Genetic Associations with Subjective Well-Being Also Implicate Depression and Neuroticism. https://doi.org/10.1101/032789

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