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Life events, anxious depression and personality: a prospective and genetic study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2008

C. M. Middeldorp ,
D. C. Cath ,
A. L. Beem ,
G. Willemsen  and
D. I. Boomsma
C. M. Middeldorp*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
D. C. Cath
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
A. L. Beem
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
G. Willemsen
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
D. I. Boomsma
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr C. M. Middeldorp, Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

The association between life events and anxious depression might be due to causality or to gene–environment correlation. We examined unidirectional and reciprocal causality and a gene–environment correlation model, in which genes that influence the vulnerability for anxious depression also increase the risk of exposure to life events. The effect of genes that influence environmental exposure might be mediated through personality and we therefore also examined the association between life events and personality (neuroticism and extraversion).

Method

Information on life events, anxious depression, neuroticism and extraversion was collected in 5782 monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins who participated in a longitudinal survey study of the Netherlands Twin Register. To examine causality, data were analysed longitudinally. To examine gene–environment correlation, the co-twin control method was used.

Results

Anxious depression and, to a lesser extent, neuroticism scores increased after exposure to life events. Anxious depression and neuroticism also predicted the experience of life events. Prospectively, extraversion was not associated with life events. Anxious depression, neuroticism and extraversion scores did not differ between the non-exposed subjects of MZ and DZ twin pairs and unrelated subjects discordant for life events.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that reciprocal causation explains the relationship between life events and anxious depression and between life events and neuroticism. Extraversion is not related to life events. No evidence was found for gene–environment correlation, i.e. the genes that influence anxious depression, neuroticism or extraversion do not overlap with the genes that increase the risk of exposure to life events.

Keywords

Anxietydepressionlife eventspersonality
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 11 , November 2008 , pp. 1557 - 1565
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

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