The brief resilience scale: a genome-wide association study in the UK Biobank

SNP-based heritability of BRS was 7.3% and strong genetic correlations (r_g) were observed with neuroticism (r_g, - 0.70 to - 0.44), depression (r_g, - 0.63 to - 0.37) and anxiety (r_g, - 0.81 to - 0.46). Three loci met genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10^-8, near VRK2, TNKS/MSRA and RAB36) and 29 loci met nominal significance (P < 5 × 10^-6). None of these were replicated in prior GWAS using different measures of resilience. The strongest candidate genes prioritized on the basis of both functional and biological evidence include VRK2 (2p16.1) (previously associated with neuropsychiatric disorders) and MSRA (8p23.1) (reduces methionine sulfoxide to methionine). Others at nominally significant loci include SLC6A9 (1p34.1) (encodes a glycine transporter), NPY (7p15.2) (involved in stress response), CADPS2 (7q31.32) (involved in synaptic vesicle exocytosis), and PCDH9 (13q21.32) (involved in neural tissue cell adhesion). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide further support for a genetic basis to trait resilience and one shared with psychiatric disorders and personality traits including depression, anxiety, and neuroticism. Our promising loci warrant replication but offer new biological insight to resilience.