Genetic and environmental contributions to depression in Sri Lanka

Ball, Harriet A.; Sumathipala, Athula; Siribaddana, Sisira H.; Kovas, Yulia; Glozier, Nick; McGuffin, Peter and Hotopf, Matthew. 2009. Genetic and environmental contributions to depression in Sri Lanka. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 195(6), pp. 504-509. ISSN 0007-1250 [Article]

No full text available

Abstract or Description

Background
Susceptibility to depression results from genetic and non-familially shared environmental influences in high-income, Western countries. Environments may play a different role for populations in different contexts.

Aims
To examine heritability of depression in the first large, population-based twin study in a low-income country.

Method
Lifetime depression and a broader measure of depression susceptibility (D-probe) were assessed in 3908 adult twins in Sri Lanka (the CoTASS study).

Results
There were gender differences for the broad definition (D-probe), with a higher genetic contribution in females (61%) than males (4%). Results were similar for depression, but the prevalence was too low to estimate heritability for males.

Conclusions
Genetic influences on depression in women appear to be at least as strong in this Sri Lankan sample as in higher-income countries. Conclusions are less clear for men but suggest a larger role for environments rather than genes. The nature as well as the magnitude of environmental influences may also differ across populations.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.109.063529

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Psychology

Dates:

DateEvent
December 2009Published

Item ID:

5355

Date Deposited:

23 Mar 2011 12:11

Last Modified:

04 Jul 2017 09:25

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/5355

Edit Record Edit Record (login required)