title: Seasonal mood change and personality: an investigation of genetic co-morbidity.
abstract: Clinical observations and empirical studies suggest that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is related to personality. The present study estimates the genetic and environmental correlations between the Global Seasonality Score (GSS) from the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire and personality measures, assessed using the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP) in a volunteer sample of 163 monozygotic (MZ) pairs (102 female and 61 male pairs) and 134 dizygotic (DZ) pairs (70 female, 38 male and 26 opposite-sex pairs). Large genetic correlations were found between the GSS and NEO-FFI Neuroticism (0.52: 95% CI = 0.36-0.71) and DAPP-BQ Cognitive Dysregulation (0.50: 95% CI = 0.30-0.71), Affective Lability (0.49: 95% CI = 0.29-0.77), Anxiousness (0.37: 95% CI = 0.18-0.55) and Stimulus Seeking (0.45: 95% CI = 0.25-0.64) scales. The genetic correlations with the remaining scales, such as Extraversion (0.06: 95% CI = -0.16-0.26), Compulsivity (-0.09: 95% CI = -0.31-0.12) and Submissiveness (0.15: 95% CI = -0.05-0.34) were uniformly small. All environmental correlations between the GSS and personality scales were < or = 0.19. These results provide evidence that the observed correlations between these seasonality and personality dimensions are attributable to common genetic factors and that environmental influences are domain specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. kjang@unixg.ubc.ca
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Vernon
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Livesley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002170:Canada; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004200:Diseases in Twins; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000235:genetics; D010551:Personality / Q000235:genetics*; D016574:Seasonal Affective Disorder / Q000235:genetics*