Genetic and Environmental Influences on Adolescent Rumination and its Association with Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Rumination is an important cognitive vulnerability for adolescent and adult depression. However, little is known about the aetiological origins of rumination, as well as its association with depression. Adolescent rumination (self-report) and depressive symptoms (self- and parent-report) were assessed in 674 pairs of same-gender Chinese adolescent twins (11-17 years of age). Females accounted for 53.7 % of the sample. There were significant correlations between self-reported rumination and self-reported depression (r = 0.41), as well as parent-reported adolescent depression (r = 0.22). Genetic influences were significant and modest on all three measures, ranging from 24 % to 42 %. The three measures were also significantly influenced by shared environment, ranging from 20 % to 28 %, and non-shared environmental factors, ranging from 30 % to 56 %. Moreover, the genetic correlations between rumination and depression were significant (within-rater: r(g) = 0.99; cross-rater: r(g) = 0.59) and largely accounted for the phenotypic correlations (within-rater: 68 %; cross-rater: 77 %), while non-shared environmental correlations were also significant (within-rater: r(e) = 0.26; cross-rater: r(e) = 0.12) and accounted for the remainder of the phenotypic correlations (within-rater: 32 %; cross-rater: 23 %). The shared environmental correlations were non-significant. No significant gender and age differences were found in aetiological models. These findings suggest that rumination may be an endophenotype reflecting genetic risk for depression.

Genetic and environmental influences on rumination and its covariation with depression

“…Our results that rumination is moderately heritable in adulthood extend those from prior research (Chen & Li, 2013; Moore et al, 2013) in two ways. First, we examined multiple measures of rumination, including a latent variable, so we are confident that our results extend beyond a specific measure of rumination.…”

“…Moore et al (2013) examined 12–14-year-old twins and found that rumination and depressive symptoms were both heritable ( h 2 =.17 and .54, respectively), and that their association was largely genetic (genetic correlation[ rA ]=.83). These findings were supported by a study of Chinese twins ages 11–17 (Chen & Li, 2013), which found a low heritability for rumination ( h 2 =.24) and substantial genetic overlap between rumination and depressive symptoms ( rA =.99).…”

“…Third, although there are well established gender differences in rumination (Johnson & Whisman, 2013) and depression (Kessler, 2006) in adults, Moore et al (2013) did not examine gender differences, and Chen and Li (2013) found no evidence of gender differences. This null finding is not surprising given that gender differences in depression and rumination are thought to emerge in late adolescence (Hankin & Abramson, 2001) and thus, may not have been present in their sample.…”

Influence of maternal depression on children's brooding rumination: Moderation byCRHR1TAT haplotype

“…Notably, this study is the first to provide evidence that the link between maternal depression and brooding rumination is moderated by genetic influences and add to the growing body of research suggesting that rumination may be an important endophenotype for depression risk (see also Chen & Li, 2013; Johnson et al, 2014; Moore et al, 2013). Furthermore, these findings provide initial evidence that biological stress reactivity (via HPA axis disruption) is a plausible mechanism underlying the link between maternal depression and children’s brooding.…”

“…As noted earlier, it is associated with depression concurrently (for reviews, see Abela & Hankin, 2008; Rood et al, 2009) and prospectively predicts onset of the disorder (Abela & Hankin, 2011; Gibb et al, 2012). Research also suggests that rumination is moderately heritable ( h 2 = .20–.41) and exhibits shared genetic variability with depression (Chen & Li, 2013; Johnson et al, 2014; Moore et al, 2013), supporting its potential role as an endophenotype. A key question then is whether high levels of brooding rumination will be observed in an at-risk population such as children of depressed mothers, whether this relation is moderated by specific genetic influences such as CRHR1 , and whether the effects are at least partially independent of children’s own current or past depression.…”