How possible is the development of an operational psychometric method to assess the presence of the 5-HTTLPR s allele? Equivocal preliminary findings

Table 5 Sensitivity and specificity of the two scales in discriminating between subjects carrying and not carrying the s allele

Score level	TP	TN	FP	FN	Sensitivity	Specificity
ss scale (subjects carrying the l allele vs subjects not carrying the l allele):
4/5	15	62	57	4	78.95	52.10
5/6	13	81	38	6	68.42	68.07
5/6	13	81	38	6	68.42	68.07
6/7	11	97	22	8	57.89	81.51
ll scale (subjects carrying the s allele vs subjects not carrying the s allele):
3/4	18	24	64	32	94.74	20.17
4/5	12	37	51	38	63.16	31.09
5/6	7	48	40	43	36.84	40.34

The ss scale discriminates between ss and combined sl and ll carriers (subjects carrying vs subjects not carrying the l allele; recessive model). The ll scale discriminates between ll and combined ss and sl carriers (subjects carrying the s allele vs subjects not carrying the s allele; dominant model).
FN = false negative; FP = false positive; TN = true negative; TP = true positive.

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