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. 2009 Dec;195(6):504-9.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.063529.

Genetic and environmental contributions to depression in Sri Lanka

Harriet A Ball  1 , Athula Sumathipala, Sisira H Siribaddana, Yulia Kovas, Nick Glozier, Peter McGuffin, Matthew Hotopf
Affiliations

Genetic and environmental contributions to depression in Sri Lanka

Harriet A Ball et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Susceptibility to depression results from genetic and non-familially shared environmental influences in high-income, Western countries. Environments may play a different role for populations in different contexts.

Aims: To examine heritability of depression in the first large, population-based twin study in a low-income country.

Method: Lifetime depression and a broader measure of depression susceptibility (D-probe) were assessed in 3908 adult twins in Sri Lanka (the CoTASS study).

Results: There were gender differences for the broad definition (D-probe), with a higher genetic contribution in females (61%) than males (4%). Results were similar for depression, but the prevalence was too low to estimate heritability for males.

Conclusions: Genetic influences on depression in women appear to be at least as strong in this Sri Lankan sample as in higher-income countries. Conclusions are less clear for men but suggest a larger role for environments rather than genes. The nature as well as the magnitude of environmental influences may also differ across populations.

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