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. 2001 Aug:179:116-21.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.179.2.116.

Genetic moderation of environmental risk for depression and anxiety in adolescent girls

J Silberg  1 , M Rutter, M Neale, L Eaves
Affiliations

Genetic moderation of environmental risk for depression and anxiety in adolescent girls

J Silberg et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2001 Aug.

Abstract

Background: There is huge individual variation in people's response to negative life events.

Aims: To test the hypothesis that genetic factors moderate susceptibility to the environmentally mediated risks associated with negative life events.

Method: The Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development (VTSABD) was used to study the effects of independent life events (assessed from maternal interview) on depression/anxiety (assessed from child interview) in 184 same-gender female twin pairs, aged 14--7 years, measured on two occasions.

Results: There was no genetic effect on the independent negative life events studied. A significant gene-environment interaction was found using structural equation modelling. There was no effect of independent life events on adolescents' depression in the absence of parental emotional disorder, but a significant effect in its presence.

Conclusions: There is an environmentally mediated effect of life events on depression/anxiety. Genetic factors play a significant role in individual differences in susceptibility to these environmentally mediated risks.

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