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Chapter 12 - Post-traumaticstress disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2012

By
Michael J. Lyons ,
Tyler Zink  and
Karestan C. Koenen
Edited by
John I. Nurnberger, Jr  and
Wade Berrettini
John I. Nurnberger, Jr
Affiliation:
Indiana University School of Medicine
Wade Berrettini
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
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Summary

This chapter provides some background about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and reviews the evidence for the role of genetic factors as a diathesis for PTSD. There are three approaches that have traditionally been used to investigate the presence of genetic influences on psychopathology: family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies. There have been a number of case-control association studies conducted to try to identify genetic variants that are related to a vulnerability to develop PTSD following exposure to trauma. There have been a number of twin studies that have examined possible genetic influences that contribute to the comorbidity of PTSD with other mental disorders. An area that is likely to play an increasingly important role in understanding how genes influence psycho-pathology in general and PTSD in particular is epigenetics. The cutting-edge research design for gene discovery is currently the genome-wide association studies (GWAS).

Keywords

psychiatrymood stabilizerspharmacogeneticsgenetic influencesantidepressantsantipsychotic drugsanticonvulsant drugs
Type
Chapter
Information
Principles of Psychiatric Genetics , pp. 134 - 144
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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