Long-term effects of adolescent sport experience, DRD2 and COMT genes, and their interaction on sport participation in adulthood.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The present study investigated the joint impact of adolescent sport experience and dopamine-related genes (i.e., DRD2 and COMT genes) on sport participation in adulthood. METHODS: Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data, the hierarchical multivariable logistic regression models for predicting sport participation in wave 3 (around 20 years of age) and wave 4 (around 30 years of age) were conducted separately by gender (male and female) and gene (DRD2 and COMT genes). RESULTS: Adolescent sport experience significantly interacted with the number of DRD2 A1 alleles and COMT Met alleles in affecting wave 3 sport participation among male adults. The interaction between adolescent sport experience and DRD2 gene significantly affected wave 4 sport participation in opposite direction to that affected wave 3 sport participation among male participants. Among female participants, there were no significant interaction effects between dopamine-related genes and adolescent sport experience on sport participation in both wave 3 and 4. CONCLUSIONS: Since adult sport participation is most likely to be influenced by the joint impact of environmental and genetic factors, it is important to consider gene-by-environment interactions when designing policies or programs to promote adult sport participation.