Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T16:02:13.161Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A twin study of generalized anxiety disorder and major depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

M-A. Roy ,
M. C. Neale ,
N. L. Pedersen ,
A. A. Mathé  and
K. S. Kendler
M-A. Roy*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Human Genetics, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA; Centre de Recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Beauport, Province de Québec, Canada; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute and the Karolinska Institute Department of Clinical Neuroscience at St Göran's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
M. C. Neale
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Human Genetics, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA; Centre de Recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Beauport, Province de Québec, Canada; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute and the Karolinska Institute Department of Clinical Neuroscience at St Göran's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
N. L. Pedersen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Human Genetics, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA; Centre de Recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Beauport, Province de Québec, Canada; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute and the Karolinska Institute Department of Clinical Neuroscience at St Göran's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
A. A. Mathé
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Human Genetics, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA; Centre de Recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Beauport, Province de Québec, Canada; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute and the Karolinska Institute Department of Clinical Neuroscience at St Göran's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
K. S. Kendler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Department of Human Genetics, Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA; Centre de Recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Beauport, Province de Québec, Canada; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute and the Karolinska Institute Department of Clinical Neuroscience at St Göran's Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Mare-André Roy, Centre de Recherche Unversité Laval Robert-Giffard, 2601 de la Canardière, Beauport, Province de Québec, Canada, G1J 2G3.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

Previous analyses with a sample of female twins sampled from the general population in Virginia have suggested that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depression (MD) share their genetic determinants but have partly different environmental determinants. The goal of this report is to examine whether these findings apply to samples that include male as well as female twins and contain high proportions of subjects who had been hospitalized for MD.

The subjects were ascertained through two different sources: (i) index probands were ascertained through the Swedish Psychiatric Twin Registry for a diagnosis of unipolar or bipolar affective illness; (ii) control twin probands were ascertained through the Swedish Twin Registry. Subjects were sent questionnaires for the assessment of lifetime history of GAD and MD. Positing multinormal distribution of the liability for GAD and MD, we fitted bivariate models to examine the sources of comorbidity.

The full model included additive genetic effects, shared environment and individual-specific environment, as well as scalar and non-scalar sex limitations and different thresholds across genders. The best-fitting model included: (i) a genetic correlation of unity; (ii) no common environment; (iii) an individual-specific environmental correlation of 0·28; (iv) different thresholds across genders, but neither scalar nor non-scalar sex-limitations. A model that included additive and dominant genetic effects and individual-specific environment, with correlation of unity for both additive and dominant genetic effects, provided an equivalent fit.

These analyses confirm that GAD and MD share the same genetic factors but that their environmental determinants are mostly distinct. Moreover, the present report supports the feasibility of combining clinically ascertained and general-population samples into a single bivariate analysis.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 25 , Issue 5 , September 1995 , pp. 1037 - 1049
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abelson, J. L., Glitz, D., Cameron, O. G., Lee, M. A., Bronzo, M. & Curtis, G. C. (1991). Blunted growth hormone response to clonidine in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry 48, 157–162.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Akaike, H. (1987). Factor analysis and the AIC. Psychometrika 52, 317–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd edn. Revised. American Psychiatric Association Press: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Angst, J., Vollrath, M., Merikangas, K. R. & Ernst, C. (1990). Comorbidity of anxiety and depression in the Zurich cohort study of young adults. In Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders (ed. Maser, J. D. and Cloninger, R. C.), pp. 123–137. American Psychiatric Press: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Bromet, E. J., Dunn, L. O., Connell, M. M. & Schulberg, H. C. (1986). Long-term reliability of diagnosing lifetime major depression in a community sample. Archives of General Psychiatry 43, 435–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, P. D. & Nemeroff, C. B. (1990). Corticotropin-releasing factor as a possible cause of comorbidity in anxiety and depressive disorders. In Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders (ed. Maser, J. D. and Cloninger, R. C.), pp. 413–435. American Psychiatric Press: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Cameron, O. G. & Hill, E. M. (1989). Women and anxiety. Psychiatric Clinics of North America 12, 175–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cederlöf, R. & Lorich, U. (1978). The Swedish Twin Registry. In Twin Research: Biology and Epidemiology (ed. Nance, W. E., Allen, G. and Parisi, P.), pp. 189–195. Alan R. Liss: New York.Google Scholar
Costello, C. G. (1990). The similarities and dissimilarities between community and clinic cases of depression. British Journal of Psychiatry 157, 812–821.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crow, J. F. (1965). Problems of ascertainment in the analysis of family data. In Genetics and the Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases (ed. Neel, J. V., Shaw, M. W. and Schull, W. J.), pp. 23–44. US Department of Health, Education and Welfare: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Earls, F. (1987). Sex differences in psychiatric disorders: origins and developmental influences. Psychiatric Developments 1, 1–23.Google Scholar
Eaves, L. J., Last, K. A., Young, P. A. & Martin, N. G. (1978). Model-fitting approaches to the analysis of human behaviour. Heredity 41, 249–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eaves, L. J., Eysenck, H. J. & Martin, N. G. (1989). Genes, Culture and Personality. Oxford University Press: London.Google Scholar
Falconer, D. S. (1965). The inheritance of liability to certain diseases, estimated from the incidence among relatives. Annals of Human Genetics 29, 51–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falconer, D. S. (1989). Introduction to Quantitative Genetics. John Wiley and Sons: New York.Google Scholar
Finlay-Jones, R. & Brown, G. W. (1981). Types of stressful life event and the onset of anxiety and depressive disorders. Psychological Medicine 11, 803–815.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heath, A. C., Kessler, R. C., Neale, M. C., Hewitt, J. K., Eaves, L. J. & Kendler, K. S. (1993). Testing hypotheses about direction of causation using cross-sectional family data. Behavior Genetics 25, 29–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hosmer, D. W. & Lemeshow, S. (1989). Applied Logistic Regression. John Wiley and Sons: New York.Google Scholar
Jardine, R., Martin, N. G. & Henderson, A. S. (1984). Genetic covariation between neuroticism and the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Genetic Epidemiology 1, 89–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jinks, J. L. & Fulker, D. W. (1970). Comparison of the biometrical genetical. MAVA, and classical approaches to the analysis of human behavior. Psychological Bulletin 73, 311–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kabfleisch, J. D. & Prentice, R. L. (1980). The Analysis of Time-Failure Data. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.: New York.Google Scholar
Kahn, R. J., McNair, D. M., Lipman, R. S., Covi, L., Rickels, K., Downing, R., Fisher, S. & Frankenthaler, L. M. (1986). Imipramine and chlordiazepoxide in depressive and anxiety disorders. II: Efficacy in anxious outpatients. Archives of General Psychiatry 43, 79–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S. & Holm, N. V. (1985). Differential enrollment in twin registries: its effect on prevalence and concordance rates of genetic parameters. Acta Genetica Medicae Gemellogicae 34, 125–140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Heath, A. C., Martin, N. G. & Eaves, L. J. (1987). Symptoms of anxiety and symptoms of depression: same genes, different environments? Archives of General Psychiatry 44, 451–457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Neale, M. C., Kessler, R. C., Heath, A. C. & Eaves, L. J. (1992 a). Major depression and generalized anxiety disorder: same genes (partly) different environments? Archives of General Psychiatry 49, 716–722.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Neale, M. C., Kessler, R. C., Heath, A. C. & Eaves, L. J. (1992 b). Generalized anxiety disorder in women. Archives of General Psychiatry 49, 267–272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Neale, M. C., Kessler, R. C., Heath, A. C. & Eaves, L. J. (1992 c). A population-based twin study of major depression in women: impact of varying definitions of illness. Archives of General Psychiatry 49, 257–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Neale, M. C., Kessler, R. C., Heath, A. C. & Eaves, L. J. (1992 d). Childhood parental loss and adult psychopathology in women. Archives of General Psychiatry 49, 109–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Pedersen, N., Johnson, L., Neale, M. C. & Mathé, A. A. (1993 a). A pilot Swedish twin study of affective illness, including hospital based and population ascertained subsamples. Archives of General Psychiatry 50, 699–706.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Neale, M. C., Kessler, R. C., Heath, A. C. & Eaves, L. J. (1993 b). A test of the equal-assumption in twin studies of psychiatric illness. Behavior Genetics 23, 21–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendler, K. S., Neale, M. C., Kessler, R. C., Heath, A. C. & Eaves, L. J. (1993 c). Major depression and phobias: the genetic and environmental sources of comorbidity. Psychological Medicine 23, 361–371.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Neale, M. C., Kessler, R. C., Heath, A. C. & Eaves, L. J. (1993 d). The lifetime history of major depression in women: reliability of diagnosis and heritability. Archives of General Psychiatry 50, 863–870.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Pedersen, N. L., Neale, M. C. & Mathé, A. A. (1995). A pilot Swedish twin study of affective illness including hospital and population ascertained subsamples: results of model-fitting. Behavior Genetics 25, 217–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, R. C., McGonagle, K. A., Zhao, S., Nelson, C. B., Hugues, M., Eshlesman, S., Wittchen, H.-U. & Kendler, K. S. (1994). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Archives of General Psychiatry 51, 8–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGuffin, P., Katz, R. & Rutherford, J. (1991). Nature, nurture and depression: a twin study. Psychological Medicine 21, 329–335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, N. G., Eaves, L. S., Kearsey, M. J. & Davies, P. (1978). The power of the classical twin study. Heredity 40, 97–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maser, J. D. & Cloninger, C. R. (1990). Comorbidity of Mood and Anxiety Disorders. American Psychiatric Press: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Neale, M. C. (1991). Statistical Modelling with Mx. Medical College of Virginia: Richmond, VA.Google Scholar
Neale, M. & Cardon, L. R. (1992). Methodology for Genetic Studies of Twins and Families. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neale, M. C. & Eaves, L. J. (1993). Estimating and controlling for the effects of volunteer bias with pairs of relatives. Behavior Genetics 23, 271–277.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neale, M. C., Eaves, L. J. & Kendler, K. S. (1994). The power of the classical twin study to resolve variation in threshold traits. Behavior Genetics 24, 239–258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Toole, B. I., Battistutta, D., Long, A. & Crouch, K. (1986). A comparison of costs and data quality of three health survey methods: mail, telephone and personal home interview. American Journal of Epidemiology 124, 317–328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plomin, R. & Bergeman, C. S. (1987). Why are children in the same family so different from one another? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 10, 1–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reich, T., Cloninger, C. R. & Guze, S. B. (1975). The multifactorial model of disease transmission: I. Description of the model and its use in psychiatry. British Journal of Psychiatry 127, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robins, E. & Guze, S. B. (1970). Establishment of diagnostic validity in psychiatric illness: its application to schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 126, 983–987.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rolnick, S. J., Gross, C. R., Garrard, J. & Gibson, R. (1989). A comparison of response rate, data quality, and cost in the collection of data on sexual history and personal behaviors: mail survey approaches and in-person interview. American Journal of Epidemiology 129, 1052–1061.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schervish, M. J. (1984). Multivariate normal probability with error bounded. Applied Statistics 33, 81–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siematycky, J., Campbell, S., Richardson, L. & Aubert, D. (1984). Quality of response in different population groups in mail and telephone surveys. American Journal of Epidemiology 120, 302–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C. (1974). Concordance in twins: methods and interpretation. American Journal of Human Genetics 26, 454–466.Google ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B., Gibbon, M. & First, M. B. (1992). The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) I: History, rationale and description. Archives of General Psychiatry 49, 624–629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M. (1988). The epidemiology of anxiety disorders: rates, risks and familial patterns. Journal of Psychiatric Research 22, 99–114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M., Gershon, E. S., Kidd, K. K., Prusoff, B. A., Leckman, J. F., Dibble, E., Hamovit, J., Thompson, D., Pauls, D. L. & Guroff, J. J. (1984). Psychiatric disorders in the relatives of probands with affective disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry 41, 13–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilhelm, K. & Parker, G. (1994). Sex differences in lifetime depression rates: fact or artefact? Psychological Medicine 24, 97–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed