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Influence of family history of major depression, bipolar disorder, and suicide on clinical features in patients with major depression and bipolar disorder

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An Erratum to this article was published on 30 July 2013

Abstract

The extent to which a family history of mood disorders and suicide could impact on clinical features of patients suffering from major depression (MD) and bipolar disorder (BD) has received relatively little attention so far. The aim of the present work is, therefore, to assess the clinical implications of the presence of at least one first- and/or second-degree relative with a history of MD, BD and suicide in a large sample of patients with MD or BD. One thousand one hundred and fifty-seven subjects with MD and 686 subjects with BD were recruited within the context of two large projects. The impact of a family history of MD, BD, and suicide—considered both separately and together—on clinical and socio-demographic variables was investigated. A family history of MD, BD, and suicide was more common in BD patients than in MD patients. A positive family history of mood disorders and/or suicide as well as a positive family history of MD and BD separately considered, but not a positive history of suicide alone, were significantly associated with a comorbidity with several anxiety disorders and inversely associated with age of onset. The clinical implications as well as the limitations of our findings are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Viale Carlo Pepoli 5, 40123, Bologna, Italy

    Alessandro Serretti, Alberto Chiesa, Raffaella Calati & Diana De Ronchi

  2. Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Laboratoire de Neurologie Expérimentale, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Sylvie Linotte

  3. Département de Santé Mentale et de Psychiatrie, Service de Psychiatrie Générale, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG), Geneve, Switzerland

    Othman Sentissi

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Konstantinos Papageorgiou & Siegfried Kasper

  5. Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel

    Joseph Zohar

  6. Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Julien Mendlewicz

  7. Department of Psychiatry ‘B’, Ness-Ziona Mental Health Center, Tel-Aviv University, Ness-Ziona, Israel

    Daniela Amital

  8. Imperial College School of Medicine, London, UK

    Stuart Montgomery

  9. Laboratoire de Psychologie Medicale, Centre Européen de Psychologie Medicale, Université Libre de Bruxelles and Psy Pluriel, Brussels, Belgium

    Daniel Souery

  10. Section of Pharmacology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Alberto Chiesa

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  1. Alessandro Serretti
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  9. Diana De Ronchi
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  13. Daniel Souery
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Correspondence to Alberto Chiesa.

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Serretti, A., Chiesa, A., Calati, R. et al. Influence of family history of major depression, bipolar disorder, and suicide on clinical features in patients with major depression and bipolar disorder. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 263, 93–103 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-012-0322-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-012-0322-y

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