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GENESiS: creating a composite index of the vulnerability to anxiety and depression in a community-based sample of siblings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

PC Sham ,
A Sterne ,
S Purcell ,
S Cherny ,
M Webster ,
F Rijsdijk ,
P Asherson ,
D Ball ,
I Craig  and
T Eley
...Show all authors
PC Sham*
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK. [email protected]
A Sterne
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
S Purcell
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
S Cherny
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK; Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
M Webster
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
F Rijsdijk
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
P Asherson
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
D Ball
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
I Craig
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
T Eley
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
D Goldberg
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
J Gray
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, de Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London.
A Mann
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, de Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London.
M Owen
Affiliation:
University of Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, UK.
R Plomin
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK.
*
*Correspondence: Dr PC Sham, SGDP Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, SE5 8AF UK. Tel: 020 7848 0892; Fax: 020 7848 0866

Abstract

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There is considerable evidence for a unitary and dimensional view of the genetic vulnerability to symptoms of anxiety and depression. The GENESiS (Genetic Environmental–Nature of Emotional States in Siblings) Study aims to use a multivariate approach to detect genetic loci that contribute to individual differences in this vulnerability dimension. The study used the UK General Practice Research Framework to generate a community-based sample of siblings. Questionnaire measures of anxiety/depression included the short form of the neuroticism scale from the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-N), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the anxious arousal and high positive affect subscales from the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ-AA and MASQ-HPA). Genetic model-fitting of 2658 unselected sibships provided evidence for a single common genetic (familial) factor that accounted for a substantial proportion of the genetic variances and covariances of these four measures. Using the parameter estimates of this model, we constructed a composite index of this common genetic factor. This index, which has a sib correlation of 0.22, will be used as a quantitative phenotype in the molecular genetic phase of GENESiS. Twin Research (2000) 3, 316–322.

Keywords

depressionanxietyneuroticismsibshipsgeneticsvulnerability
Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , 01 August 2000 , pp. 316 - 322
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000