Influence of TAAR6 and HSP-70 genes variations on major mood disorders

Abstract

Background: Researchers generally agree that mental illness represents a burden to the family. The present study concerns the subjective burden of living with a person with mental disorder, more specifically the association between mental disorder in the index person and subjective well-being and symptoms of anxiety and depression in his or her spouse. Methods: Questionnaire data were obtained from 4,690 couples participating in the Nord-Trondelag Health Study; a large population based study performed in Norway in 1995-97. Mental health in spouses of persons with mental disorder was compared with mental health in spouses of persons without mental disorder using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Because of dependency in the data due to the double entry file structure in which each participant in the study was included both as an index person and as a spouse, all analyses were run stratified by sex. Results: Adjusting for several covariates, spouses of persons with mental disorder scored significantly lower on subjective wellbeing and significantly higher on symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to spouses of persons without mental disorder. Although highly significant, the effect sizes were moderate, corresponding to a difference in standard deviations ranging from .31 – .46. Conclusion: Our study supports earlier research regarding family burden and mental illness in spouses, however, our results do not indicate that a large proportion of the spouses reach a clinical level of depression.