GENESiS: creating a composite index of the vulnerability to anxiety and depression in a community-based sample of siblings.
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.
Sham
P C
PC
Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, London, UK. P.Sham@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Sterne
A
A
Purcell
S
S
Cherny
S
S
Webster
M
M
Rijsdijk
F
F
Asherson
P
P
Ball
D
D
Craig
I
I
Eley
T
T
Goldberg
D
D
Gray
J
J
Mann
A
A
Owen
M
M
Plomin
R
R
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D004777:Environment; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008957:Models, Genetic; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010551:Personality / Q000235:genetics*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology