1. A behavioral genetic investigation of conceptualizations of resilience in a female twin sample.
- Author
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Sawyers, Chelsea, Kurtz, Erin D., Sheerin, Christina, Maes, Hermine H., Kendler, Kenneth S., and Amstadter, Ananda B.
- Subjects
LIFE change events ,MENTAL depression ,RESEARCH ,GENETICS ,RESEARCH methodology ,TWINS ,EVALUATION research ,MEDICAL cooperation ,COMPARATIVE studies ,SYMPTOMS ,RESEARCH funding - Abstract
Background: Great variability exists in response to stressful or traumatic events, leading to an interest in the construct of resilience as a trait and an outcome. The etiologic sources of variability across differing conceptualizations of resilience are poorly understood.Methods: Using behavioral genetic methods in a sample of 2,056 female twins, the present study sought to (a) examine the etiologic sources of a trait-based self-report measure of perceived resilience (PR), (b) determine the genetic and environmental overlap with an outcome-based measure of resilience, as defined by the absence of psychiatric symptoms after stressful life events, previously used by our research team (discrepancy-based psychiatric resilience [DBPR]), and (c) determine the etiologic overlap of these two resilience measures with major depressive disorder (MDD).Results: PR was modestly (11%) heritable. A moderate degree of genetic overlap (39%) and a nominal amount of environmental overlap (3%) were found between the two alternative measures of resilience. Genetic factors that influence PR accounted for 3% of MDD heritability, whereas 31% of MDD heritability was due to DBPR genetic factors.Conclusions: Findings of a higher genetic correlation between the outcome-based resilience measure and MDD compared to the trait-based measure and MDD suggest gene-finding efforts may benefit from considering the multifaceted nature of resilience and that resilience is best understood as both a phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous construct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2020
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