A Fanous1, C O Gardner, C A Prescott, R Cancro, K S Kendler. 1. Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Richmond, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A portion of the genetic risk factors for the personality trait neuroticism (N) may also increase risk for major depression (MD). Females have both higher levels of N and higher rates of MD than males, suggesting that these traits may be more genetically correlated in females. METHODS: Structured interviews, including a lifetime assessment for MD by DSM-III-R criteria, were administered to 863 male-male MZ (monozygotic), 649 male-male DZ (dizygotic), 506 female-female MZ, 345 female-female DZ, and 1,408 opposite-sex twin pairs. N was assessed using the short-form of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. A sex-limited Cholesky model was fitted which allowed us to decompose into additive genetic, common environmental, and individual-specific environmental components two main classes of correlations: within-sex between-variable and between-sex within-variable. RESULTS: Our best-fitting model contained only additive genetic and individual-specific environmental factors for both N and MD. The within-sex genetic correlations between N and MD were estimated at +0.68 in men and +0.49 in women. This model fitted only slightly better than one in which the N-MD within-sex genetic correlation was constrained to be equal across the sexes, and estimated at +0.55. There may be sex-specific genes influencing both N and MD. CONCLUSION: Our best-fitting model failed to establish a significant sex difference in the genetic correlation between N and MD. These results, as well as evidence for sex-specific genetic factors for both traits, have implications for the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of the affective disorders, and molecular genetic approaches to the study of these traits.
BACKGROUND: A portion of the genetic risk factors for the personality trait neuroticism (N) may also increase risk for major depression (MD). Females have both higher levels of N and higher rates of MD than males, suggesting that these traits may be more genetically correlated in females. METHODS: Structured interviews, including a lifetime assessment for MD by DSM-III-R criteria, were administered to 863 male-male MZ (monozygotic), 649 male-male DZ (dizygotic), 506 female-female MZ, 345 female-female DZ, and 1,408 opposite-sex twin pairs. N was assessed using the short-form of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. A sex-limited Cholesky model was fitted which allowed us to decompose into additive genetic, common environmental, and individual-specific environmental components two main classes of correlations: within-sex between-variable and between-sex within-variable. RESULTS: Our best-fitting model contained only additive genetic and individual-specific environmental factors for both N and MD. The within-sex genetic correlations between N and MD were estimated at +0.68 in men and +0.49 in women. This model fitted only slightly better than one in which the N-MD within-sex genetic correlation was constrained to be equal across the sexes, and estimated at +0.55. There may be sex-specific genes influencing both N and MD. CONCLUSION: Our best-fitting model failed to establish a significant sex difference in the genetic correlation between N and MD. These results, as well as evidence for sex-specific genetic factors for both traits, have implications for the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of the affective disorders, and molecular genetic approaches to the study of these traits.
Authors: Jan Fullerton; Matthew Cubin; Hemant Tiwari; Chenxi Wang; Amarjit Bomhra; Stuart Davidson; Sue Miller; Christopher Fairburn; Guy Goodwin; Michael C Neale; Simon Fiddy; Richard Mott; David B Allison; Jonathan Flint Journal: Am J Hum Genet Date: 2003-02-20 Impact factor: 11.025
Authors: Lynsey S Hall; Mark J Adams; Aleix Arnau-Soler; Toni-Kim Clarke; David M Howard; Yanni Zeng; Gail Davies; Saskia P Hagenaars; Ana Maria Fernandez-Pujals; Jude Gibson; Eleanor M Wigmore; Thibaud S Boutin; Caroline Hayward; Generation Scotland; David J Porteous; Ian J Deary; Pippa A Thomson; Chris S Haley; Andrew M McIntosh Journal: Transl Psychiatry Date: 2018-01-10 Impact factor: 6.222
Authors: A Terracciano; S Sanna; M Uda; B Deiana; G Usala; F Busonero; A Maschio; M Scally; N Patriciu; W-M Chen; M A Distel; E P Slagboom; D I Boomsma; S Villafuerte; E Sliwerska; M Burmeister; N Amin; A C J W Janssens; C M van Duijn; D Schlessinger; G R Abecasis; P T Costa Journal: Mol Psychiatry Date: 2008-10-28 Impact factor: 15.992