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

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.