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The role of temperament and social support in depressive symptoms: A twin study of mid-aged women

Yuh, Jongil ; Neiderhiser, Jenae M ; Spotts, Erica L ; Pedersen, Nancy L ; Lichtenstein, Paul ; Hansson, Kjell LU ; Cederblad, Marianne LU ; Elthammer, Olle and Reiss, David (2008) In Journal of Affective Disorders 106(1-2). p.99-105
Abstract
Background: Although research has found that temperament and social support are associated with depression, these relationships have not been explored in conjunction with one another as they relate to depression using a genetically informative design. This study investigated how the association among the three constructs is mediated. Methods: The sample in this study consisted of 326 pairs of adult monozygotic and dizygotic twins drawn from the Swedish Twin Registry. Twins were mothers of adolescent from married or partnered relationships. The genetic and environmental contributions to the association were evaluated by self-reported measures of temperament, social support, and depressive symptoms. Results: Multivariate genetic model... (More)
Background: Although research has found that temperament and social support are associated with depression, these relationships have not been explored in conjunction with one another as they relate to depression using a genetically informative design. This study investigated how the association among the three constructs is mediated. Methods: The sample in this study consisted of 326 pairs of adult monozygotic and dizygotic twins drawn from the Swedish Twin Registry. Twins were mothers of adolescent from married or partnered relationships. The genetic and environmental contributions to the association were evaluated by self-reported measures of temperament, social support, and depressive symptoms. Results: Multivariate genetic model fitting revealed that a moderate portion of genetic influences were common among the three central constructs of harm avoidance, perceived social support, and depressive symptoms. Limitations: The results may not be generalizable to depressive disorders in clinical settings. The measures were self-reported from a cross-sectional study. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the heritable component may contribute to genetic influences on an individual's ability to secure social support and thus to genetic risk for depressive symptomatology in women. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
twin study, depressive symptoms, temperament, social support
in
Journal of Affective Disorders
volume
106
issue
1-2
pages
99 - 105
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000252905300009
  • scopus:37349124140
  • pmid:17610958
ISSN
1573-2517
DOI
10.1016/j.jad.2007.05.025
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b6843482-b425-4e4d-af5e-98b3ad1efea5 (old id 1198658)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:07:38
date last changed
2022-01-26 23:08:38
@article{b6843482-b425-4e4d-af5e-98b3ad1efea5,
  abstract     = {{Background: Although research has found that temperament and social support are associated with depression, these relationships have not been explored in conjunction with one another as they relate to depression using a genetically informative design. This study investigated how the association among the three constructs is mediated. Methods: The sample in this study consisted of 326 pairs of adult monozygotic and dizygotic twins drawn from the Swedish Twin Registry. Twins were mothers of adolescent from married or partnered relationships. The genetic and environmental contributions to the association were evaluated by self-reported measures of temperament, social support, and depressive symptoms. Results: Multivariate genetic model fitting revealed that a moderate portion of genetic influences were common among the three central constructs of harm avoidance, perceived social support, and depressive symptoms. Limitations: The results may not be generalizable to depressive disorders in clinical settings. The measures were self-reported from a cross-sectional study. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the heritable component may contribute to genetic influences on an individual's ability to secure social support and thus to genetic risk for depressive symptomatology in women.}},
  author       = {{Yuh, Jongil and Neiderhiser, Jenae M and Spotts, Erica L and Pedersen, Nancy L and Lichtenstein, Paul and Hansson, Kjell and Cederblad, Marianne and Elthammer, Olle and Reiss, David}},
  issn         = {{1573-2517}},
  keywords     = {{twin study; depressive symptoms; temperament; social support}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1-2}},
  pages        = {{99--105}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Affective Disorders}},
  title        = {{The role of temperament and social support in depressive symptoms: A twin study of mid-aged women}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2007.05.025}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jad.2007.05.025}},
  volume       = {{106}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}