More depression in Western cultures

EVANSTON, Ill., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say those who genetically tend to depression do better in collectivist East Asian cultures compared to individualistic Western cultures.

The study, published in Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, suggests a genetic vulnerability to depression is much more likely to be realized in individualistic Western cultures than in an East Asian culture that is more about "we" than "me" and provides more social support.

"Such support seems to buffer vulnerable individuals from the environmental risks or stressors that serve as triggers to depressive episodes," lead author Joan Chiao of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., said in a statement.

The researchers looked at genetic data on populations from 29 countries -- specifically the two variants of the serotonin transporter gene -- the long allele and the short. In Western populations, the short allele has been linked to major depressive episodes in response to multiple life stressors.

The researchers actually found a strong association between the degree of cultural collectiveness in a particular nation and the degree to which a disproportionate number of people carried the short allele.

In East Asia, nearly 80 percent of the population was genetically susceptible to depression, but the actual prevalence of depression was significantly lower than in individualistic nations, such as the United States and Western Europe.

However, the actual prevalence of depression was significantly lower than in Western cultures, the study says.