Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Same Genes, (Partly) Different Environments?

Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Same Genes, (Partly) Different Environments? Abstract • Bivariate twin analysis can determine the extent to which two disorders share common genetic, familial environmental, or individual-specific environmental risk factors. We applied this method to lifetime diagnoses of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder as assessed at personal interview in a population-based sample of 1033 pairs of female same-sex twins. Three definitions of generalized anxiety disorder were used that varied in minimum duration (1 vs 6 months) and in the presence or absence of a diagnostic hierarchy. For all definitions of generalized anxiety disorder, the best-fitting twin model was the same. Familial environment played no role in the etiology of either condition. Genetic factors were important for both major depression and generalized anxiety disorder and were completely shared between the two disorders. A modest proportion of the nonfamilial environmental risk factors were shared between major depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Within the limits of our statistical power, our findings suggest that in women, the liability to major depression and generalized anxiety disorder is influenced by the same genetic factors, so that whether a vulnerable woman develops major depression or generalized anxiety disorder is a result of her environmental experiences. References 1. Boyd JH, Burke JD, Gruenberg E, Holzer CE III, Rae DS, George LK, Karno M, Stoltzman R, McEvoy L, Nestadt G. Exclusion criteria of DSM-III: a study of co-occurrence of hierarchy-free syndromes . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1984;41:983-989.Crossref 2. Angst J, Vollrath M, Merikangas K, Ernst C. Comorbidity of anxiety and depression in the Zurich Cohort Study of Young Adults . In: Maser JD, Cloninger CR, eds. Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press Inc; 1990:123-137. 3. Tsuang MT, Faraone SV. The Genetics of Mood Disorders . Baltimore, Md: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1990. 4. Kendler KS, Neale MC, Kessler RC, Heath AC, Eaves LJ. A population based twin study of major depression in women: the impact of varying definitions of illness . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1992;49:257-266. 5. Noyes R, Clarkson C, Crowe RR, Yates WR, McChesney CM. A family study of generalized anxiety disorder . Am J Psychiatry . 1987;144:1019-1024. 6. Kendler KS, Neale MC, Kessler RC, Heath AC, Eaves LJ. Generalized anxiety disorder in women: a population based twin study . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1992;49:267-272.Crossref 7. Parker G. Parental characteristics in relation to depressive disorders . Br J Psychiatry . 1979;134:138-147.Crossref 8. Parker G. Parental representations of patients with anxiety neurosis . Acta Psychiatr Scand . 1981;63:33-36.Crossref 9. Uhlenhuth EH, Paykel ES. Symptom configuration and life events . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1973;28:744-748.Crossref 10. Barrett JE. The relationship of life events to the onset of neurotic disorders . In: Barrett JE, Rose RM, Klerman GL, eds. Stress and Mental Disorder . New York, NY: Raven Press; 1979:87-109. 11. Weissman MM, Gershon ES, Kidd KK, Prusoff BA, Leckman JF, Dibble E, Hamovit J, Thompson WD, Pauls DL, Guroff JJ. Psychiatric disorders in the relatives of probands with affective disorders: the Yale University National Institute of Mental Health Collaborative Study . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1984;41:13-21.Crossref 12. Torgersen S. A twin-study perspective of the comorbidity of anxiety and depression . In: Maser JD, Cloninger CR, eds. Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press Inc; 1990: 367-378. 13. Kendler KS, Heath AC, Martin NG, Eaves LJ. Symptoms of anxiety and symptoms of depression: same genes, different environments? Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1987;44:451-457.Crossref 14. Spence JE, Corey LA, Nance WE, Marazita ML, Kendler KS, Schieken RM. Molecular analysis of twin zygosity using VNTR DNA probes . Am J Hum Genet . 1988;43:A159. 15. American Psychiatric Association, Committee on Nomenclature and Statistics. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised Third Edition . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1987. 16. Spitzer RL, Williams JB, Gibbon M. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R . New York, NY: Biometrics Research Department, New York State Psychiatric Institute; 1987. 17. Cohen J. A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales . Educ Psychol Meas . 1960;20:37-46.Crossref 18. American Psychiatric Association, Committee on Nomenclature and Statistics. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1980. 19. Breslau N, Davis GC. DSM-III generalized anxiety disorder: an empir- ical investigation of more stringent criteria . Psychiatry Res . 1985;14:231-238.Crossref 20. Joreskog KG,0 Sorbom D. PRELIS: A Preprocessor for LISREL . Mooresville, Ind: Scientific Software; 1986. 21. Kendler KS, Kidd KK. Recurrence risks in an oligogenic threshold model: the effect of alterations in allele frequency . Ann Hum Genet . 1986; 50:83-91.Crossref 22. Joreskog KG, Sorbom D. LISREL 7: A Guide to the Program and Applications . 2nd ed. Chicago, Ill: SPSS Inc; 1989. 23. Heath AC, Neale MC, Hewitt JK, Eaves LJ, Fulker DW. Testing structural equation models for twin data using LISREL . Behav Genet . 1989;19:9-35.Crossref 24. Akaike H. Factor analysis and AIC . Psychometrika . 1987;52:317-332.Crossref 25. Merikangas KR. Comorbidity for anxiety and depression: review of family and genetic studies . In: Maser JD, Cloninger CR, eds. Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press Inc; 1990:331-348. 26. Breier A, Charney DS, Heninger GR. The diagnostic validity of anxiety disorders and their relationship to depressive illness . Am J Psychiatry . 1985;142:787-797. 27. Lipman RS, Covi L, Rickels K, McNair DM, Downing R, Kahn RJ, Lasseter VK, Faden V. Imipramine and chlordiazepoxide in depressive and anxiety disorders, I: efficacy in outpatients . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1986;43:68-77.Crossref 28. Kahn RJ, McNair DM, Lipman RS, Covi L, Rickels K, Downing R, Fisher S, Frankenthaler LM. Imipramine and chlordiazepoxide in depressive and anxiety disorders, II: efficacy in anxious outpatients . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1986;43:79-85.Crossref 29. Abelson JL, Glitz D, Cameron OG, Lee MA, Bronzo M, Curtis GC. Blunted growth hormone response to clonidine in patients with generalized anxiety disorder . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1991;48:157-162.Crossref 30. Finlay-Jones R, Brown GW. Types of stressful life events and the onset of anxiety and depressive disorders . Psychol Med . 1981;11:803-815.Crossref 31. Torgersen S. Developmental differentiation of anxiety and affective neurosis . Acta Psychiatr Scand . 1985;71:304-310.Crossref 32. Breslau N, Davis GC, Andreski P, Peterson E. Traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in an urban population of young adults . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1991;48:216-222.Crossref 33. Monroe SM. Psychosocial factors in anxiety and depression . In: Maser JD, Cloninger CR, eds. Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press Inc; 1990:463-497. 34. Robins LH, Regier DA, eds. Psychiatric Disorders in America . New York, NY: The Free Press; 1991. 35. Helzer JE, Pryzbeck TR. The co-occurrence of alcoholism with other psychiatric disorders in the general population and its impact on treatment . J Stud Alcohol . 1988;49:219-224. 36. Wells JS, Bushnell JA, Hornblow AR, Joyce PR, Oakley-Browne MA. Christchurch psychiatric epidemiology study, I: methodology and lifetime prevalence for specific psychiatric disorders . Aust N ZJ Psychiatry . 1989;23: 315-326.Crossref 37. Hagnell O, Essen-Moller E, Lanke J, Ojesjo L, Rorsman B. The Incidence of Mental Illness over a Quarter of a Century: The Lundby Longitudinal Study of Mental Illnesses in a Total Population Based on 42 000 Observation Years . Stockholm, Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksell International; 1990. 38. Bebbington P, Katz R, McGuffin P, Tennant C, Hurry J. The risk of depression before age 65: results from a community survey . Psychol Med . 1989;19:393-400.Crossref http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of General Psychiatry American Medical Association

Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Same Genes, (Partly) Different Environments?

Download PDF
7 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/american-medical-association/major-depression-and-generalized-anxiety-disorder-same-genes-partly-X8P53ZEjh0

References (41)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0003-990X
eISSN
1598-3636
DOI
10.1001/archpsyc.1992.01820090044008
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract • Bivariate twin analysis can determine the extent to which two disorders share common genetic, familial environmental, or individual-specific environmental risk factors. We applied this method to lifetime diagnoses of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder as assessed at personal interview in a population-based sample of 1033 pairs of female same-sex twins. Three definitions of generalized anxiety disorder were used that varied in minimum duration (1 vs 6 months) and in the presence or absence of a diagnostic hierarchy. For all definitions of generalized anxiety disorder, the best-fitting twin model was the same. Familial environment played no role in the etiology of either condition. Genetic factors were important for both major depression and generalized anxiety disorder and were completely shared between the two disorders. A modest proportion of the nonfamilial environmental risk factors were shared between major depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Within the limits of our statistical power, our findings suggest that in women, the liability to major depression and generalized anxiety disorder is influenced by the same genetic factors, so that whether a vulnerable woman develops major depression or generalized anxiety disorder is a result of her environmental experiences. References 1. Boyd JH, Burke JD, Gruenberg E, Holzer CE III, Rae DS, George LK, Karno M, Stoltzman R, McEvoy L, Nestadt G. Exclusion criteria of DSM-III: a study of co-occurrence of hierarchy-free syndromes . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1984;41:983-989.Crossref 2. Angst J, Vollrath M, Merikangas K, Ernst C. Comorbidity of anxiety and depression in the Zurich Cohort Study of Young Adults . In: Maser JD, Cloninger CR, eds. Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press Inc; 1990:123-137. 3. Tsuang MT, Faraone SV. The Genetics of Mood Disorders . Baltimore, Md: The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1990. 4. Kendler KS, Neale MC, Kessler RC, Heath AC, Eaves LJ. A population based twin study of major depression in women: the impact of varying definitions of illness . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1992;49:257-266. 5. Noyes R, Clarkson C, Crowe RR, Yates WR, McChesney CM. A family study of generalized anxiety disorder . Am J Psychiatry . 1987;144:1019-1024. 6. Kendler KS, Neale MC, Kessler RC, Heath AC, Eaves LJ. Generalized anxiety disorder in women: a population based twin study . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1992;49:267-272.Crossref 7. Parker G. Parental characteristics in relation to depressive disorders . Br J Psychiatry . 1979;134:138-147.Crossref 8. Parker G. Parental representations of patients with anxiety neurosis . Acta Psychiatr Scand . 1981;63:33-36.Crossref 9. Uhlenhuth EH, Paykel ES. Symptom configuration and life events . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1973;28:744-748.Crossref 10. Barrett JE. The relationship of life events to the onset of neurotic disorders . In: Barrett JE, Rose RM, Klerman GL, eds. Stress and Mental Disorder . New York, NY: Raven Press; 1979:87-109. 11. Weissman MM, Gershon ES, Kidd KK, Prusoff BA, Leckman JF, Dibble E, Hamovit J, Thompson WD, Pauls DL, Guroff JJ. Psychiatric disorders in the relatives of probands with affective disorders: the Yale University National Institute of Mental Health Collaborative Study . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1984;41:13-21.Crossref 12. Torgersen S. A twin-study perspective of the comorbidity of anxiety and depression . In: Maser JD, Cloninger CR, eds. Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press Inc; 1990: 367-378. 13. Kendler KS, Heath AC, Martin NG, Eaves LJ. Symptoms of anxiety and symptoms of depression: same genes, different environments? Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1987;44:451-457.Crossref 14. Spence JE, Corey LA, Nance WE, Marazita ML, Kendler KS, Schieken RM. Molecular analysis of twin zygosity using VNTR DNA probes . Am J Hum Genet . 1988;43:A159. 15. American Psychiatric Association, Committee on Nomenclature and Statistics. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised Third Edition . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1987. 16. Spitzer RL, Williams JB, Gibbon M. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R . New York, NY: Biometrics Research Department, New York State Psychiatric Institute; 1987. 17. Cohen J. A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales . Educ Psychol Meas . 1960;20:37-46.Crossref 18. American Psychiatric Association, Committee on Nomenclature and Statistics. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1980. 19. Breslau N, Davis GC. DSM-III generalized anxiety disorder: an empir- ical investigation of more stringent criteria . Psychiatry Res . 1985;14:231-238.Crossref 20. Joreskog KG,0 Sorbom D. PRELIS: A Preprocessor for LISREL . Mooresville, Ind: Scientific Software; 1986. 21. Kendler KS, Kidd KK. Recurrence risks in an oligogenic threshold model: the effect of alterations in allele frequency . Ann Hum Genet . 1986; 50:83-91.Crossref 22. Joreskog KG, Sorbom D. LISREL 7: A Guide to the Program and Applications . 2nd ed. Chicago, Ill: SPSS Inc; 1989. 23. Heath AC, Neale MC, Hewitt JK, Eaves LJ, Fulker DW. Testing structural equation models for twin data using LISREL . Behav Genet . 1989;19:9-35.Crossref 24. Akaike H. Factor analysis and AIC . Psychometrika . 1987;52:317-332.Crossref 25. Merikangas KR. Comorbidity for anxiety and depression: review of family and genetic studies . In: Maser JD, Cloninger CR, eds. Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press Inc; 1990:331-348. 26. Breier A, Charney DS, Heninger GR. The diagnostic validity of anxiety disorders and their relationship to depressive illness . Am J Psychiatry . 1985;142:787-797. 27. Lipman RS, Covi L, Rickels K, McNair DM, Downing R, Kahn RJ, Lasseter VK, Faden V. Imipramine and chlordiazepoxide in depressive and anxiety disorders, I: efficacy in outpatients . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1986;43:68-77.Crossref 28. Kahn RJ, McNair DM, Lipman RS, Covi L, Rickels K, Downing R, Fisher S, Frankenthaler LM. Imipramine and chlordiazepoxide in depressive and anxiety disorders, II: efficacy in anxious outpatients . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1986;43:79-85.Crossref 29. Abelson JL, Glitz D, Cameron OG, Lee MA, Bronzo M, Curtis GC. Blunted growth hormone response to clonidine in patients with generalized anxiety disorder . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1991;48:157-162.Crossref 30. Finlay-Jones R, Brown GW. Types of stressful life events and the onset of anxiety and depressive disorders . Psychol Med . 1981;11:803-815.Crossref 31. Torgersen S. Developmental differentiation of anxiety and affective neurosis . Acta Psychiatr Scand . 1985;71:304-310.Crossref 32. Breslau N, Davis GC, Andreski P, Peterson E. Traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in an urban population of young adults . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1991;48:216-222.Crossref 33. Monroe SM. Psychosocial factors in anxiety and depression . In: Maser JD, Cloninger CR, eds. Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press Inc; 1990:463-497. 34. Robins LH, Regier DA, eds. Psychiatric Disorders in America . New York, NY: The Free Press; 1991. 35. Helzer JE, Pryzbeck TR. The co-occurrence of alcoholism with other psychiatric disorders in the general population and its impact on treatment . J Stud Alcohol . 1988;49:219-224. 36. Wells JS, Bushnell JA, Hornblow AR, Joyce PR, Oakley-Browne MA. Christchurch psychiatric epidemiology study, I: methodology and lifetime prevalence for specific psychiatric disorders . Aust N ZJ Psychiatry . 1989;23: 315-326.Crossref 37. Hagnell O, Essen-Moller E, Lanke J, Ojesjo L, Rorsman B. The Incidence of Mental Illness over a Quarter of a Century: The Lundby Longitudinal Study of Mental Illnesses in a Total Population Based on 42 000 Observation Years . Stockholm, Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksell International; 1990. 38. Bebbington P, Katz R, McGuffin P, Tennant C, Hurry J. The risk of depression before age 65: results from a community survey . Psychol Med . 1989;19:393-400.Crossref

Journal

Archives of General Psychiatry – American Medical Association

Published: Sep 1, 1992

There are no references for this article.