title: Serotonin transporter polymorphism (5HTTLPR), severe childhood abuse and depressive symptom trajectories in adulthood.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cross-sectional studies suggest that the serotonin transporter promoter region polymorphism (5-HTT gene-linked polymorphic region,5HTTLPR) moderates the relationship between childhood abuse and major depressive disorder.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether the5HTTLPRpolymorphism moderates the effect childhood abuse has on 5-year depressive symptom severity trajectories in adulthood.
  
  
  METHODS
  At 5-year follow-up, DNA from 333 adult primary care attendees was obtained and genotyped for the5HTTLPRpolymorphism. Linear mixed models were used to test for a genotype × childhood abuse interaction effect on 5-year depressive symptom severity trajectories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After covariate adjustment, homozygoussallele carriers with a history of severe childhood abuse had significantly greater depressive symptom severity at baseline compared with those without a history of severe childhood abuse and this effect persisted throughout the 5-year period of observation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The5HTTLPR s/sgenotype robustly moderates the effects of severe childhood abuse on depressive symptom severity trajectories in adulthood.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  None.
  © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.
authors.affiliation: , BS, MD, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Timothy B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: , PhD, MBBS, Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Jane M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gunn
authors.affiliation: , BAppSc, GDip Clin Epi, M Prim HlthCare, Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Potiriadis
authors.affiliation: , BSC (Hons), MB ChB (Hons), PhD, DSc, FRCPsych, FRANZCP, FRCPath, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, NorthWestern Mental Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Everall
authors.affiliation: , BS, MPH, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia and Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Chad A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bousman