Genetic and environmental determinants of stressful life events

Stressful life events (SLEs) and neuroticism are risk factors for Background: major depressive disorder (MDD). However, SLEs and neuroticism are heritable and genetic risk for SLEs is correlated with risk for MDD. We sought to investigate the genetic and environmental contributions to SLEs in a family-based sample, and quantify genetic overlap with MDD and neuroticism. A subset of Generation Scotland: the Scottish Family Health Study Methods: (GS), consisting of 9618 individuals with information on MDD, past 6 month SLEs, neuroticism and genome-wide genotype data was used in the present study. We estimated the heritability of SLEs using GCTA software. The environmental contribution to SLEs was assessed by modelling familial, couple and sibling components. Using polygenic risk scores (PRS) and LD score regression (LDSC) we analysed the genetic overlap between MDD, neuroticism and SLEs. Past 6-month life events were positively correlated with lifetime MDD Results: 1 2 1 2 2