Publications [#253366] of Terrie E. Moffitt

Journal Articles

1. Caspi, A; Sugden, K; Moffitt, TE; Taylor, A; Craig, IW; Harrington, H; McClay, J; Mill, J; Martin, J; Braithwaite, A; Poulton, R (2003). Influence of life stress on depression: moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene.. Science (New York, N.Y.), 301(5631), 386-389. [12869766], [doi]
   (last updated on 2024/04/17)

   Author's Comments:
   This paper was featured in the Sunday New York Times Magazine, “A question of resilience”, 7 May, 2006. This paper is a Thompson’s ISI “Super Hot Paper” as at December 2005. A super hot paper is a paper that has consistently ranked in the top 100 papers in citations, across all branches of science, in every month for 2 years since Dec. 2003. Among the papers on ISI’s super hot papers list, this paper ranks 13th across all fields of science. It ranks first among the six super hot papers from the neuroscience category. There are no super hot papers from the psychology/psychiatry category. This paper’s finding was named the runner-up for most important scientific finding published in Science in 2003. This paper was named a “Fast-Breaking Paper” as the most cited paper in the field of Neuroscience & Behavior from July 2003 by Essential Science Indicators, http://esi_topics.com/. This paper was reviewed in Faculty1000 of Medicine and Faculty1000 of Biology, scored “9 exceptional”. This paper is disseminated as a PharmD training program for psychiatrists: slide kit, guidebook, and accompanying CD-ROM: "Causes & Consequences of Depression: Rationale for Early, Vigorous, & Complete Treatment to Prevent Remission, 2005." Covered by The New Scientist, Chronicle of Higher Education, The Lancet, The New England J. of Medicine, JAMA, The Economist, Nature-online, Nature Reviews Genetics, Genome News Network, Reader’s Digest, Bioworld International, Neurology Today, The Chronicle of Neurology & Psychiatry, Chemistry & Industry, Popular Mechanics, National Public Radio, BBC world radio, BBC world TV news, Associated Press, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Financial Times, London Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Independent, Healthday.com, Shape Magazine, and newspapers and radio in Hong Kong, Singapore, Brazil, Argentina, Sweden, India, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Israel.

   Abstract:
   In a prospective-longitudinal study of a representative birth cohort, we tested why stressful experiences lead to depression in some people but not in others. A functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter (5-HT T) gene was found to moderate the influence of stressful life events on depression. Individuals with one or two copies of the short allele of the 5-HT T promoter polymorphism exhibited more depressive symptoms, diagnosable depression, and suicidality in relation to stressful life events than individuals homozygous for the long allele. This epidemiological study thus provides evidence of a gene-by-environment interaction, in which an individual's response to environmental insults is moderated by his or her genetic makeup.