Patterns of Shared Genetic Risk Between Chronic Pain, Psychopathologies, and Neuroticism
Journal Article
Overview
abstract
Mounting evidence supports a prominent neurobiological and psychological component to chronic pain. However, the genetic association between chronic pain, psychiatric conditions, and neuroticism remains unclear. To assess this, we estimated genetic correlations between latent factors for General and Musculoskeletal Pain and Externalizing, Psychotic Thought, Compulsive Thought, and Internalizing psychopathology using genomic structural equation models of published genome-wide association studies. We further estimated the proportion of each pain-psychopathology correlation explained by neuroticism. We observed substantial genetic correlations for the General Pain factor with Internalizing and Externalizing psychiatric factors ( r = .7 for both); genetic correlations with Psychotic and Compulsive Thought disorders were negligible ( r < .2). Neuroticism explained substantial (19%–53%) shared genetic variance for General Pain with Externalizing and Internalizing factors. Overlapping genetic risks for chronic pain, psychiatric conditions, and neuroticism suggest shared biological mechanisms, underscoring the importance of chronic-pain assessment and treatment programs that address these shared mechanisms.
