Integrating social science and behavioral genetics: testing the origin of socioeconomic disparities in depression using a genetically informed design.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We tested 3 hypotheses-social causation, social drift, and common cause-regarding the origin of socioeconomic disparities in major depression and determined whether the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and major depression varied by genetic liability for major depression.

Methods

Data were from a sample of female twins in the baseline Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders interviewed between 1987 and 1989 (n = 2153). We used logistic regression and structural equation twin models to evaluate these 3 hypotheses.

Results

Consistent with the social causation hypothesis, education (odds ratio [OR] = 0.78; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.66, 0.93; P < .01) and income (OR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.89, 0.98; P < .01) were si

SUBMITTER: Mezuk B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3786755 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature