Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Clinical Presentations of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder across Trauma Populations: A Comparison of MMPI-2 Profiles of Combat Veterans and Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

This investigation examined differences in symptom patterns of two different trauma samples using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). MMPI-2s of 122 male combat veterans seeking outpatient treatment for combat-related PTSD were compared with those of 64 PTSD-diagnosed adults seeking outpatient treatment for the effects of child sexual abuse (CSA). We examined variables related to degree of health concerns, depression, somatization, anger and hostility, masculine-feminine traits, paranoid ideation, anxiety, difficulties thinking and concentrating, elevated mood, and social introversion, as well as test-taking attitude. MANOVAs revealed between-group differences on several variables. However, when analyses controlled for the effect of age, nearly all differences disappeared; the only remaining difference was in a scale measuring anger. Thus, it appears CSA survivors and combat veterans are much more similar than different in their clinical presentation on the MMPI-2. Conceptual issues in the assessment of PTSD are discussed

Posttraumatic Stress, Depression and Dissociation as Predictors of MMPI-2 Scale 8 Scores in Combat Veterans with PTSD

Findings from a previous study of sexual abuse trauma victims (Elhai, Gold, Mateus, & Astaphan, 2001) were replicated to assess whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and dissociation symptoms account for Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) scale8 scores in combat trauma victims. Participants were 122 male veterans seeking outpatient treatment for combat-related PTSD. Hierarchical regression analysis assessed whether PTSD symptoms incrementally accounted for variation in scale 8 scores above and beyond depression and dissociation symptoms. Results revealed that PTSD symptoms did not incrementally account for additional scale 8 variation. However, negative and positive symptoms of psychosis did account for variance in scale 8. Clinical implications for assessment of PTSD and psychosis with trauma victims are discussed

The Personal Exploration Rover: The Ground-up Design, Deployment and Educational Evaluation of an Educational Robot for Unmediated Informal Learning Sites

Robotics brings together learning across mechanism, computation and interaction using the compelling model of real-time interaction with a physically instantiated intelligent device. The project described here is the third stage of the Personal Rover Project, which aims to produce technology, curriculum and evaluation techniques for use with after-school, out-of-school and informal learning environments mediated by robotics. Our most recent work has resulted in the Personal Exploration Rover (PER), whose goal is to create and evaluate a robot interaction that will educate members of the general public in an informal learning environment and capitalize on the current enthusiasm and excitement produced by NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs). We have two specific goals of teaching about the role of rovers as tools for scientific exploration and teaching about the importance of robot autonomy. To this effect we have designed an interactive, robotic museum exhibit which has been deployed at six locations across the United States. Here we describe the robot hardware and software designed for this task, the exhibits developed, and the results of formal evaluation of the exhibits ' educational impact on museum visitors