title: Depression and spinal cord injury: a monozygotic twin study.
abstract: Although, in earlier work, depression in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) was attributed to difficulties adjusting to SCI, more recent articles have emphasized the importance of constitutional and environmental factors not specific to SCI, as well as established theoretical models of depression. To further explore this question, 11 pairs of monozygotic twins, where one of each pair was spinal cord injured, were studied. Measures included the Beck Depression Inventory, the depression scale of the SCL-90R, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Using pairwise t tests, the authors did not find any significant differences between SCI and non-SCI co-twins. These findings are consistent with the idea that the occurrence of SCI does not inevitably lead to increased depression.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York 10468, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tirch
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Radnitz
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Bauman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D012803:Sick Role; D012931:Social Environment; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic