Sensation-seeking, life events and depression - The Cardiff Depression Study

Background The relationship between adversity and genetic risk factors in d epression could be mediated by familial 'hazard prone' traits, as reflected in high levels of sensation-seeking, Aims To examine whether high sensation-seeking scores are associated with m ore adverse life events resulting in depression. Method In a sib-pair design, 108 probands with depression and their sibling s and 105 healthy control subjects and their siblings were compared for psy chopathology, life events and scores on the Sensation-Seeking Questionnaire (SSQ). Results The SSQ scores were correlated negatively with depression, were fam ilial and were correlated positively with less severe events, but not the s evere events typically associated with depressive onsets. Conclusions The SSQ measures a familial personality trait and depression is associated with lower scores. Although high sensation-seeking is associate d with a higher rate of life events, these carry little threat. Declaration of interest Study Funded by the Wellcome Trust.