Minneapolis St. Paul Mental Health Blog

Higher genetic risk for Depression, Social support especially important

Mental Health | Individuals with a high genomic risk for depression, especially during stressful life periods, significantly benefit from supportive social connections...


...according to study findings published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

A University of Michigan Medical School research team examined the importance of social support during stressful times through 2 groups of people: first-year medical residents in the Intern Health Study (IHS), and older adults who had been recently widowed and part of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).

“Our data show wide variability in the level of social support individuals received during these stressful times, and how it changed over time,” said first author Jennifer L. Cleary, MS, a University of Michigan psychology doctoral student studying under senior author Srijan Sen, MD, PhD, University of Michigan Medical School.

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