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Heritability of depressive symptoms: a case study using a multilevel approach
Amy L Byers1, Becca R Levy, Stanislav V Kasl
1Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, White Plains, NY, USA. Amy.Byers@ucsf.edu
International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research
|September 17, 2009
Summary
Genetic factors do not significantly influence depressive symptoms in extended families. Future research on this sample can focus on non-genetic causes of depression, as heritability was not a significant factor.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Genetics
- Psychiatry
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Previous research on the heritability of depressive symptoms primarily utilized twin studies.
- Extended family studies offer a complementary approach to understanding genetic and environmental influences on depression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the heritability of depressive symptoms within extended families using a multilevel modeling approach.
- To assess the necessity of adjusting heritability measures in multigenerational family studies.
Main Methods:
- A sample of 230 extended families (431 adult offspring) from the University of Southern California Longitudinal Study of Generations participated.
- Participants completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale.
- Multilevel modeling was employed to analyze the hierarchical family structure.
Main Results:
- The proportion of phenotypic variance in CES-D scores attributable to genetic differences was not statistically significant (h(2) = 8.6%, p = 0.71).
- The 95% confidence interval for heritability ranged from 0% to 57%.
Conclusions:
- Genetic factors do not appear to significantly contribute to depressive symptoms in this extended family sample.
- Future research in this cohort can prioritize non-genetic explanatory factors for depressive symptoms.
- Findings may be limited to prevalent, rather than lifetime, depressive symptoms.
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