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Impact of catechol-O-methyltransferase genetic polymorphisms and age on empathy
Ist Teil von
Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.), 2023-09, Vol.42 (26), p.23059-23068
Ort / Verlag
New York: Springer US
Erscheinungsjahr
2023
Quelle
Alma/SFX Local Collection
Beschreibungen/Notizen
A new concept of empathy was adopted in this study to elucidate the relationship between empathy and age and eight catechol-
O
-methyltransferase (
COMT
) gene polymorphisms. One hundred and eighty-two participants were genotyped on eight
COMT
loci. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET) measured the participants' empathy. Group comparison, correlation, and regression analyses were conducted. After adjusting
α
by the Bonferroni method (
p
= .00125), there was no difference in any empathy index on 8
COMT
variants. Still, middle-aged with the
AA
allele at
rs165599
and
rs165655
had higher personal distress than those with the
GA
allele after controlling for the sex variable. The
rs6267
with more
G
allele could predict higher cognitive empathy (
β
= .222,
p
= .003). After controlling for education, the RMET performance of older adults was worse than that of younger adults (
p
< .01). Moreover, being female predicted higher personal distress (
β
= -.239,
p
= .001) and affective empathy (
β
= -.247,
p
= .001), and higher education level predicted better results in RMET (
β
= .344,
p
< .001). People with various genotypes in specific age groups showed significant differences in particular empathy indicators. Age and education can shape an individual’s empathy together with innate factors.