Abstract
To determine the relationship between the genetic and environmental risk factors for common internalizing psychopathology (IP) and mental well-being (MWB), we examined detailed measures of emotional, social and psychological well-being, and a history of major depression (MD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic attacks in the last year, in 1,386 twins from same-sex pairs from the MIDUS national USA sample assessed in 1995 and then again in 2005. Statistical analyses were performed with the Mx program. In the 1995 data, the best fit model contained one substantially heritable common factor for MD, GAD and panic attacks, and one strongly heritable common factor for the three well-being measures. Genetic and environmental risk factors for IP accounted for, respectively, 50 and 5%, of the genetic and environmental influences on MWB. We then constructed, using 1995 and 2005 data, two common factors that reflected temporally stable influences on (i) MD and GAD, and (ii) on emotional and psychological well-being. Genetic and environmental risk factors for the stable liability to IP accounted for 41 and 29% of the stable genetic and environmental influences, respectively, on MWB. This study suggests that genetic risk factors for IP make up 41–50% of the genetic influences on MWB. The overlap of environmental risk factors is more modest. Although low levels of IP on average reflect a high genetic propensity for MWB, other independent genetic influences play an important role in producing good mental health.
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Notes
The well-being literature does not have a common set of terms for describing these dimensions. While many psychologist tend to refer to emotional well-being as “subjective well-being,” Keyes argues that all three dimensions of MWB are subjective assessments of well-being that are more clearly identified by whether the measures focus on feeling states (i.e., hedonia) toward one’s life or how well individuals see themselves functioning in their lives (i.e., eudaimonia), with the latter being distinguished in terms of whether the functioning is psychological (i.e., more private and personal) or social (i.e., more public and communal). For consistency with the past research, which involves the same model in this article, we employ Keyes’ terminology.
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Acknowledgments
Supported in part by NIH grant MH068643. The 1995 phase of the study was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development. The 2005 phase was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (P01-AG020166) to conduct a longitudinal follow-up of the MIDUS (Midlife in the USA) investigation.
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Kendler, K.S., Myers, J.M., Maes, H.H. et al. The Relationship Between the Genetic and Environmental Influences on Common Internalizing Psychiatric Disorders and Mental Well-Being. Behav Genet 41, 641–650 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-011-9466-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-011-9466-1