Exploring etiological factors underlying anxiety and its associations with physical health and health-related quality of life.

The first part of this project involves investigating the genetic and environmental architecture of anxiety symptoms in a twin sample (TWINS Study). We also explore associations between anxiety symptoms with a range of cardiac autonomic measures: inter-beat interval, heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity. This project adds to much needed behaviour genetics research on the relationships between anxiety and cardiovascular health. We aim to return to this twin dataset to further explore the associations between anxiety symptoms and potentially other internalizing symptoms (e.g. neuroticism, inter-personal sensitivity) and how it relates to physical health markers such as inflammation or metabolic markers.

Our second key aim is to conduct twin analyses in a non-western population (CoTASS study, Sri-Lanka). Examining anxiety in both a western (high income countries, HIC) and non-western twin sample (low and middle-income countries, LMIC), will allow us to investigate whether it can manifest via cultural/environmental factors, giving this project a global-health angle. We aim to conduct bivariate twin analyses between anxiety symptoms and health-related quality of life in this sample, investigating phenotypic, genetic and environmental correlationships between the two domains.

The third main component of the study involves investigating the epigenetic nature of anxiety. As anxiety disorders are commonly co-morbid with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), we will be using an ongoing ASD twin dataset (Social Relationships Study; SRS) to compare epigenetic profiles with control participants. My aim is to investigate global DNA methylation, a novel research area especially in the context of anxiety pathology. Depending on sample and data availability, we also plan to make use of a different sample (GLAD study), specifically focusing on those with an anxiety/depression diagnosis, potentially for further genomic and epigenomic analyses.