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CLINICAL PREDICTORS OF FAMILIAL DEPRESSION IN HAN CHINESE WOMEN
Author(s) -
Wang Lina,
Qiao Dongdong,
Li Yihan,
Wang Liwei,
Ren Jianer,
He Kangmei,
Sun Jing,
Wang Zhoubing,
Tian Tian,
Chen Ce,
Yang Lei,
Hu Jian,
Deng Hong,
Wang Qian,
Li Keqing,
Han Jiyang,
Rong Han,
Gan Zhaoyu,
Yang Hong,
Zhou Pingliang,
Pan Jiyang,
Zhou Cong,
Cui Yanping,
Song Libo,
Zhu Yuzhang,
Li Ying,
Wang Xueyi,
Ye Lanxian,
Liang Wei,
Chen Yunchun,
Tang Qingjun,
Guan Jing,
Shi Shenxun,
Kendler Kenneth S.,
Flint Jonathan,
Liu Lanfen
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
depression and anxiety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.634
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6394
pISSN - 1091-4269
DOI - 10.1002/da.20878
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , anxiety , psychopathology , family history , family aggregation , odds ratio , logistic regression , stressor , psychiatry , psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , disease , economics , macroeconomics
Abstract Background A number of clinical features potentially reflect an individual's familial vulnerability to major depression (MD), including early age at onset, recurrence, impairment, episode duration, and the number and pattern of depressive symptoms. However, these results are drawn from studies that have exclusively examined individuals from a European ethnic background. We investigated which clinical features of depressive illness index familial vulnerability in Han Chinese females with MD. Methods We used lifetime MD and associated clinical features assessed at personal interview in 1,970 Han Chinese women with DSM‐IV MD between 30–60 years of age. Odds Ratios were calculated by logistic regression. Results Individuals with a high familial risk for MD are characterized by severe episodes of MD without known precipitants (such as stress life events) and are less likely to feel irritable/angry or anxious/nervous. Conclusions The association between family history of MD and the lack of a precipitating stressor, traditionally a characteristic of endogenous or biological depression, may reflect the association seen in other samples between recurrent MD and a positive family history. The symptomatic associations we have seen may reflect a familial predisposition to other dimensions of psychopathology, such as externalizing disorders or anxiety states. Depression and Anxiety 0:1–6, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.