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Genetic and environmental influences on last-year major depression in adulthood: a highly heritable stable liability but strong environmental effects on 1-year prevalence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2017

K. S. Kendler  and
C. O. Gardner
K. S. Kendler*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA
C. O. Gardner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: K. S. Kendler, M.D., Department of Psychiatry and Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics of VCU, Box 980126, Richmond, VA 23298-0126, USA. (Email: Kenneth.Kendler@vcuhealth.org)
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Abstract

Background

This study seeks to clarify the contribution of temporally stable and occasion-specific genetic and environmental influences on risk for major depression (MD).

Method

Our sample was 2153 members of female–female twin pairs from the Virginia Twin Registry. We examined four personal interview waves conducted over an 8-year period with MD in the last year defined by DSM-IV criteria. We fitted a structural equation model to the data using classic Mx. The model included genetic and environmental risk factors for a latent, stable vulnerability to MD and for episodes in each of the four waves.

Results

The best-fit model was simple and included genetic and unique environmental influences on the latent liability to MD and unique wave-specific environmental effects. The path from latent liability to MD in the last year was constant over time, moderate in magnitude (+0.65) and weaker than the impact of occasion-specific environmental effects (+0.76). Heritability of the latent stable liability to MD was much higher (78%) than that estimated for last-year MD (32%). Of the total unique environmental influences on MD, 13% reflected enduring consequences of earlier environmental insults, 17% diagnostic error and 70% wave-specific short-lived environmental stressors.

Conclusions

Both genetic influences on MD and MD heritability are stable over middle adulthood. However, the largest influence on last-year MD is short-lived environmental effects. As predicted by genetic theory, the heritability of MD is increased substantially by measurement at multiple time points largely through the reduction of the effects of measurement error and short-term environmental risk factors.

Keywords

Environmentheritabilitylongitudinal studymajor depression
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 47 , Issue 10 , July 2017 , pp. 1816 - 1824
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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