TY - JOUR
T1 - Seasonal changes in mood and behavior
T2 - The role of genetic factors
AU - Madden, Pamela A.F.
AU - Heath, Andrew C.
AU - Rosenthal, Norman E.
AU - Martin, Nicholas G.
PY - 1996/1
Y1 - 1996/1
N2 - Background: Seasonal rhythms in mood and behavior (seasonality) have been reported to occur in the general population. Seasonal affective disorder, a clinically diagnosed syndrome, is believed to represent the morbid extreme of a spectrum of seasonality. Two types of seasonality have been clinically described: one characterized by a winter pattern and a second by a summer pattern of depressive mood disturbance. Methods: By using methods of univariate and multivariate genetic analysis, we examined the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to the risk of seasonality symptoms that were assessed by a mailed questionnaire of 4639 adult twins from a volunteer-based registry in Australia. Results: Seasonality was associated with a winter rather than a summer pattern of mood and behavioral change. In each behavioral domain (ie, mood, energy, social activity, sleep, appetite, and weight), a significant genetic influence on the reporting of seasonal changes was found. Consistent with the hypothesis of a seasonal syndrome, genetic effects were found to exert a global influence across all behavioral changes, accounting for at least 29% of the variance in seasonality in men and women. Conclusions: There is a tendency for seasonal changes in mood and behavior to run in families, especially seasonality of the winter type, and this is largely due to a biological predisposition. These findings support continuing efforts to understand the role of seasonality in the development of mood disorders.
AB - Background: Seasonal rhythms in mood and behavior (seasonality) have been reported to occur in the general population. Seasonal affective disorder, a clinically diagnosed syndrome, is believed to represent the morbid extreme of a spectrum of seasonality. Two types of seasonality have been clinically described: one characterized by a winter pattern and a second by a summer pattern of depressive mood disturbance. Methods: By using methods of univariate and multivariate genetic analysis, we examined the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to the risk of seasonality symptoms that were assessed by a mailed questionnaire of 4639 adult twins from a volunteer-based registry in Australia. Results: Seasonality was associated with a winter rather than a summer pattern of mood and behavioral change. In each behavioral domain (ie, mood, energy, social activity, sleep, appetite, and weight), a significant genetic influence on the reporting of seasonal changes was found. Consistent with the hypothesis of a seasonal syndrome, genetic effects were found to exert a global influence across all behavioral changes, accounting for at least 29% of the variance in seasonality in men and women. Conclusions: There is a tendency for seasonal changes in mood and behavior to run in families, especially seasonality of the winter type, and this is largely due to a biological predisposition. These findings support continuing efforts to understand the role of seasonality in the development of mood disorders.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0030026156&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830010049008
DO - 10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830010049008
M3 - Article
C2 - 8540777
AN - SCOPUS:0030026156
SN - 0003-990X
VL - 53
SP - 47
EP - 55
JO - Archives of General Psychiatry
JF - Archives of General Psychiatry
IS - 1
ER -