Ines Ulrich

Associations between the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) and "mind-reading" in humans--an exploratory study.

Abstract Background/aims: The application of intranasal oxytocin enhances facial emotion recognition in normal subjects and in subjects with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In addition, various features of social cognition have been associated with variants of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR). Therefore, we tested for associations between mind-reading, a measure for social recognition and OXTR polymorphisms. Methods: 76 healthy adolescents and young adults were tested for associations between OXTR rs53576, rs2254298, rs2228485 and mind-reading using the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test” (RMET). Results: After Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, rs2228485 was associated with the number of incorrect answers when subjects evaluated male faces (P =0.000639). There were also associations between OXTR rs53576, rs2254298 and rs2228485 and other RMET dimensions according to P <0.05 (uncorrected). Conclusion: This study adds further evidence to the hypothesis that genetic variations in the OXTR modulate mind-reading and social behaviour.

Neuroticism developmental courses - implications for depression, anxiety and everyday emotional experience; a prospective study from adolescence to young adulthood

BackgroundNeuroticism is frequently discussed as a risk factor for psychopathology. According to the maturity principle, neuroticism decreases over the course of life, but not uniformly across individuals. However, the implications of differences in personality maturation on mental health have not been well studied so far. Hence, we hypothesized that different forms of neuroticism development from adolescence to young adulthood are associated with differences in depression, anxiety and everyday emotional experience at the age of 25.MethodsA sample of 266 adolescents from the general population was examined three times over ten years (age at T0: 15, T1: 20 and T2: 25) using questionnaires, interviews and ecological momentary assessment (EMA). At all measurement points, neuroticism was assessed with the NEO inventory. At T2, diagnoses of major depression and anxiety disorders were captured with a structured clinical interview (M-CIDI). Phone-based EMA was used to assess emotional experience and affective instability over a two-week period at T2.ResultsThe best fitting model was a latent class growth analysis with two groups of neuroticism development. Most individuals (n = 205) showed moderate values whereas 61 participants were clustered into a group with elevated neuroticism levels. In both groups neuroticism significantly changed during the ten year period with a peak at the age of 20. Individuals with a higher absolute level were at 14-fold increased risk for depression and 7-fold risk for anxiety disorders at the age of 25. In EMA, increased negative affect and arousal as well as decreased positive emotions were found in this high group.ConclusionsOther than expected, personality did not mature in our sample. However, there was a significant change of neuroticism values from adolescence to young adulthood. Further, over 20% of our participants showed a neuroticism development which was associated with adverse outcomes such as negatively toned emotional experience and a heightened risk to suffer from depressive and anxiety disorders in young adulthood. These high-risk persons need to be identified early to provide interventions supporting continuous personality maturation.

The association between depressive symptoms and emotion recognition is moderated by emotion regulation

In this study, we examined the associations between depression and aspects of emotional functioning, namely emotion recognition, affectivity and interpersonal problems. Particularly, the moderating role of emotion regulation in these interrelations was tested in a sample of 85 women, who exhibited a wide range of depressive symptoms (Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)). Emotion recognition was assessed with a paradigm displaying a widely used set of photographs of the six basic emotions in graded intensities. Further, participants were examined regarding emotion regulation (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)), interpersonal problems (Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-Circumplex (IIP-C)) and affectivity (Affect Intensity Measure (AIM), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)). Besides correlation analyses, Johnson-Neyman technique for probing interactions in linear regression models was applied to test for possible moderating effects. Depressive symptoms were positively correlated with error rates in anger recognition, but not with the other basic emotions. This association was moderated by suppression in that regard that more severely depressed women who more frequently used suppression showed superior recognition of angry faces than those with lower suppression values. Further, suppression was associated with an affective imbalance and interpersonal problems in women with current depressive disorder. In sum, our results emphasize the importance of differentiating subtypes of depression depending on emotion regulation capabilities for research on or treatment of emotional functioning in depression.

Longitudinal transmission pathways of borderline personality disorder symptoms: from mother to child?

Background: There is evidence that the borderline symptomatology of the mother longitudinally predicts the number of borderline criteria met by the children. However, possible underlying mechanisms have rarely been examined. In line with transactional models of borderline personality disorder (BPD), we analyzed a broad concept of maladaptive mother-child interactions of mothers with BPD symptoms towards their children, including insensitive parenting and mother-child discrepancies, in reporting the childs psychopathological behavior. Sampling/Methods: The sample was drawn from the population-based Greifswald Family Study and consisted of 295 children and their biological mothers. Both were examined at two points in time, first when the children were about 15 years old (T₀) and again 5 years later (T1), using path analyses. Results: Maladaptive mother-child interactions (especially an overprotective and rejecting parenting style and high discrepancies regarding internalizing problems) mediate the longitudinal transmission of borderline symptoms from mother to child. Furthermore, our data revealed that this result is consistent for various youth symptoms which are associated with BPD such as impulsivity or dissociation. Conclusion: The data of the current study imply that the transmission of borderline symptoms from mother to child is mediated by maladaptive mother-child interactions. For this reason early and professional support may be useful to prevent these children from developing severe psychopathology.

Prävalenz und Familiarität von Persönlichkeitsstörungen in Deutschland: Ergebnisse der Greifswalder Familienstudie

BACKGROUND There are only few data about the prevalence and familiarity of personality disorders (PD) in population based samples in Germany. Moreover, nearly no information exists for the prevalence of PDs among young adults. Thus, in the current study we examined the prevalence, familiarity and psychopathology of PDs, whereby middle-aged adults (about 45 years old) as well as the adult children of these persons (about 20 years old) were examined. METHODS Participants were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for Personality Disorders (SCID-II) which is based on the DSM-IV criteria for PDs and with the SCL-90. The sample consisted of 411 parents and their adolescent children (n=334). RESULTS The prevalence for PDs was 11.2% in the parent sample and 14.7% in the adolescent sample. Cluster-B personality disorders (Cluster-B-PDs) were more often diagnosed in the adolescent sample, in particular. Moreover, we did find an elevated risk for children of parents with a PD than for children of parents without a PD to develop a PD where the former group also displayed elevated values with regard to their psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS This study underlines the importance of PDs in community-based samples. The implications of our findings for treatment and classification of PDs are discussed.

[Familial transmission of depression: the importance of harm avoidance].

BACKGROUND Previous research about the aetiology of depression has analysed how depression-associated personality traits influence familial transmission. Using the community-based sample of the Greifswald Family Study, we investigated longitudinally to which extent the temperament factor harm avoidance influences the correlation between parents depression and the depression of their offspring (with regard to possible sex differences). METHODS To test this familial transmission a structural equation model was conducted with the data of 193 children (mean age 19.5, SD=2.41) and their biological parents. Depression was assessed with structured clinical interviews, and harm avoidance with Cloningers Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI, JTCI). RESULTS The harm avoidance scores of the mothers were significantly correlated with the harm avoidance scores of their children, but the correlation of the fathers and childrens scores did not reach significance. The extent of harm avoidance at the first assessment of the 14-year-old children predicted depression 5 years later. CONCLUSION These results indicate the importance of personality as a vulnerability marker for developing affective disorders. The results are discussed with respect to prevention programmes for children and parents with depression, especially if they exhibit strongly avoidant or anxious behaviour.

Familiäre Transmission depressiver Störungen

BACKGROUND Previous research about the aetiology of depression has analysed how depression-associated personality traits influence familial transmission. Using the community-based sample of the Greifswald Family Study, we investigated longitudinally to which extent the temperament factor harm avoidance influences the correlation between parents depression and the depression of their offspring (with regard to possible sex differences). METHODS To test this familial transmission a structural equation model was conducted with the data of 193 children (mean age 19.5, SD=2.41) and their biological parents. Depression was assessed with structured clinical interviews, and harm avoidance with Cloningers Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI, JTCI). RESULTS The harm avoidance scores of the mothers were significantly correlated with the harm avoidance scores of their children, but the correlation of the fathers and childrens scores did not reach significance. The extent of harm avoidance at the first assessment of the 14-year-old children predicted depression 5 years later. CONCLUSION These results indicate the importance of personality as a vulnerability marker for developing affective disorders. The results are discussed with respect to prevention programmes for children and parents with depression, especially if they exhibit strongly avoidant or anxious behaviour.

Familiäre Transmission depressiver Störungen@@@Familial transmission of depression: Die Bedeutung von Schadensvermeidung@@@The importance of harm avoidance

BACKGROUND Previous research about the aetiology of depression has analysed how depression-associated personality traits influence familial transmission. Using the community-based sample of the Greifswald Family Study, we investigated longitudinally to which extent the temperament factor harm avoidance influences the correlation between parents depression and the depression of their offspring (with regard to possible sex differences). METHODS To test this familial transmission a structural equation model was conducted with the data of 193 children (mean age 19.5, SD=2.41) and their biological parents. Depression was assessed with structured clinical interviews, and harm avoidance with Cloningers Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI, JTCI). RESULTS The harm avoidance scores of the mothers were significantly correlated with the harm avoidance scores of their children, but the correlation of the fathers and childrens scores did not reach significance. The extent of harm avoidance at the first assessment of the 14-year-old children predicted depression 5 years later. CONCLUSION These results indicate the importance of personality as a vulnerability marker for developing affective disorders. The results are discussed with respect to prevention programmes for children and parents with depression, especially if they exhibit strongly avoidant or anxious behaviour.