The effects of stress-tension on depression and anxiety symptoms: evidence from a novel twin modelling analysis

Negative mood states are composed of symptoms of depression and anxiety, and by a third factor related to stress, tension and irritability. We sought to clarify the nature of the relationships between the factors by studying twin pairs.

A total of 503 monozygotic twin pairs completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS), an instrument that assesses symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress-tension. We applied a recently developed twin regression methodology - Inference about Causation from Examination of FAmiliaL CONfounding (ICE FALCON) - to test for evidence consistent with the existence of 'causal' influences between the DASS factors.

There was evidence consistent with the stress-tension factor having a causal influence on both the depression (p < 0.0001) and anxiety factors (p = 0.001), and for the depression factor having a causal influence on the anxiety factor (p < 0.001).

Our findings suggest a critical role for stress-tension in the structure of negative mood states, and that interventions that target it may be particularly effective in reducing depression and anxiety symptoms.