Genetic Basis of Emotional Regulation: Integrative Analysis of Behavioral and Neurobiological Data

Emotional regulation (ER) is the process by which people change their physiology, expressions, and emotional experiences to operate in their daily lives. Deficits in emotion control may be connected to physical and mental health consequences. This review aims to identify genetic variants, understand neurobiological mechanisms, and explore behavioral phenotypes associated with ER. In our study, we included English studies from online databases such as Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus using the following keywords “genetic factors”, “genetic markers”, “Emotional regulation”, “emotional dysregulation”, “neurobiology”, and “behavior” till June 2024. The result of the search utilizing our search strategy was 2107 studies. We screened the articles relevant to our topic by screening these articles. We involved 12 studies that met the inclusion criteria of our narrative review. Our study involved 6114 individuals divided into 4511 females and 1603 males. The mean age of the included participants was 18 years. Out of all the genes studied in relation to ER, SLC6A4 was the most frequently found. The findings show that individuals homozygous for the l allele were less likely to misbehave on the task than those with two or one copy of the s allele of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. There are essential therapeutic implications from comprehending the genetic basis of ER. It can help with the creation of individualized interventions for people with emotional dysregulation (ED) linked to psychiatric diseases, such as depression and anxiety disorders. For example, the identification of genetic markers may aid in predicting treatment response to particular therapeutic approaches (such as medicine vs cognitive-behavioral therapy) customized to a person's genetic profile. This review is limited by the small sample size and insufficient studies identifying the genetic variants and behavioral phenotypes associated with ER. In conclusion, the current research presents empirical proof that environmental and genetic factors impact individual variances in ER. Moreover, it's significant to note that shared genetic effects play a role in the relationship between neurobiology, behavior, and ER.