Childhood sexual abuse and impulsive personality traits: Mixed evidence for moderation by DRD4 genotype

•We test the relation between childhood sexual abuse and personality in young adults.•In two samples, sexual abuse was associated with higher sensation seeking.•The dopamine D4 receptor gene did not consistently moderate the effect of sexual abuse.•Sensation seeking may link sexual abuse with risk for multiple mental disorders.

This project examines associations between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and two dimensions of impulsivity (sensation seeking and premeditation), and tests whether CSA-personality associations are moderated by the DRD4 exon III VNTR polymorphism. Sample 1 is from a longitudinal study of university students measured at 10 waves over ages 18–24 years (n = 500). Sample 2 is from a national sample of young adult sibling pairs, ages 18–24, from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 2559). In both samples, CSA was associated with elevated sensation seeking. In Sample 1, the association between CSA and sensation seeking was moderated by DRD4 genotype; this gene × environment interaction effect, however, was not replicated in Sample 2. Results suggest new avenues for research on CSA in the area of normal-range personality variation.