Issues concerning feedback about genetic testing and risk of depression.

Background: Recent studies show that adverse life events have a significantly greater impact on depression onset for those with the s/s allele of the genotype for the 5-HT gene-linked promoter region. Research in genes related to risk of depression leads to the question of how this information is received by individuals.

Aims: To investigate factors related to the response to receiving one's own serotonin transporter genotype results.

What can alert the general practitioner to people whose common mental health problems are unrecognised?

Objectives: To assess the characteristics of people with common mental health problems who are recognised by their general practitioner, and those who are not.

Design: Two different case-finding techniques (brief self-report and structured diagnostic interview) were compared with GPs' independent assessments of patients' presentations as psychological and/or medical.

Setting And Participants: 371 patients in general practices in metropolitan Sydney and rural New South Wales, with follow-up telephone interview as soon as possible after the GP visit.

The long and the short of it: associations between 5-HTT genotypes and coping with stress.

Objective: To examine whether the strategies people use to cope with stress were associated with differing serotonin transporter (5-HTT) genotypes. The short (s) variant of the 5-HTT promoter polymorphism has been associated with an increased likelihood of depression after significant life stress and greater emotional reactivity to fear-invoking stimuli.

Methods: Coping strategies were assessed within a longitudinal study in 1993.