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Genetic versus stress and mood determinants of sleep in the Amish
Author(s) -
Bruce Heather A.,
Kochunov Peter,
Chiappelli Joshua,
Savransky Anya,
Carino Kathleen,
Sewell Jessica,
Marshall Wyatt,
Kvarta Mark,
McMahon Francis J.,
Ament Seth A.,
Postolache Teodor T.,
O'Connell Jeff,
Shuldiner Alan,
Mitchell Braxton,
Hong L. Elliot
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
american journal of medical genetics part b: neuropsychiatric genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.393
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1552-485X
pISSN - 1552-4841
DOI - 10.1002/ajmg.b.32840
Subject(s) - heritability , mood , pittsburgh sleep quality index , bedtime , sleep (system call) , psychology , chronotype , stress measures , sleep disorder , stressor , clinical psychology , psychiatry , stress (linguistics) , insomnia , circadian rhythm , sleep quality , biology , genetics , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience , computer science , operating system
Sleep is essential to the human brain and is regulated by genetics with many features conserved across species. Sleep is also influenced by health and environmental factors; identifying replicable genetic variants contributing to sleep may require accounting for these factors. We examined how stress and mood disorder contribute to sleep and impact its heritability. Our sample included 326 Amish/Mennonite individuals with a lifestyle with limited technological interferences with sleep. Sleep measures included Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), bedtime, wake time, and time to sleep onset. Current stress level, cumulative life stressors, and mood disorder were also evaluated. We estimated the heritability of sleep features and examined the impact of current stress, lifetime stress, mood diagnosis on sleep quality. The results showed current stress, lifetime stress, and mood disorder were independently associated with PSQI score ( p < .05). Heritability of PSQI was low (0–0.23) before and after accounting for stress and mood. Bedtime, wake time, and minutes to sleep time did show significant heritability at 0.44, 0.42, and 0.29. However, after adjusting for shared environment, only heritability of wake time remained significant. Sleep is affected by environmental stress and mental health factors even in a society with limited technological interference with sleep. Wake time may be a more biological marker of sleep as compared to the evening measures which are more influenced by other household members. Accounting for nongenetic and partially genetic determinants of sleep particularly stress and mood disorder is likely important for improving the precision of genetic studies of sleep.