Genetic and environmental pathways to suicidal behavior: reflections of a genetic epidemiologist.
This paper presents a tentative typology of genetic and environmental pathways to suicidal behavior. Ten pathways are proposed and briefly illustrated: (i) direct effects from psychiatric disorders; (ii) direct effects from personality; (iii) direct effects of early adversity; (iv) direct effects of current adversity; (v) indirect effects of genes on selection into adversity (gene-environment correlation); (vi) interactions between genetic risk and current adversity: gene-environment interaction; (vii) interactions between early and current adversity: environment-environment interaction; (viii) interactions between culture and genes; (ix) dynamic developmental pathways involving causal loops from genes to environment and back again; and (x) gene x environment x development interaction.
Kendler
K S
KS
Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School, Box 980126, 800 E. Leigh Street, Richmond, VA 23298-0126, USA. kendler@vcu.edu
D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D010551:Personality; D012931:Social Environment; D013405:Suicide