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Sensation-seeking, life events and depression. The Cardiff Depression Study
1Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London, UK.
Background:
The relationship between adversity and genetic risk factors in depression could be mediated by familial 'hazard prone' traits, as reflected in high levels of sensation-seeking.
Aims:
To examine whether high sensation-seeking scores are associated with more adverse life events resulting in depression.
Method:
In a sib-pair design, 108 probands with depression and their siblings and 105 healthy control subjects and their siblings were compared for psychopathology, life events and scores on the Sensation-Seeking Questionnaire (SSQ).
Results:
The SSQ scores were correlated negatively with depression, were familial and were correlated positively with less severe events, but not the severe events typically associated with depressive onsets.
Conclusions:
The SSQ measures a familial personality trait and depression is associated with lower scores. Although high sensation-seeking is associated with a higher rate of life events, these carry little threat.