Citation

Sham PC, Sterne A, Purcell S, Cherny S, Webster M, Rijsdijk F, Asherson P, Ball D, Craig IW, Eley T, Goldberg D, Gray J, Mann A, Owen M, Plomin R. Twin Res. 2000; 3(4): 316-322.

Affiliation

Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK. P.Sham@iop.kcl.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Australian Academic Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11463153

Abstract

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.

Language: en