Our beliefs about the heritability of psychiatric traits may influence how we respond to the use of genetic information in this area. In the present study, we aim to inform future education campaigns as well as genetic counseling interventions by exploring common fears and misunderstandings associated with learning about genetic predispositions for mental health disorders. We surveyed 3,646 genetic research participants from Australia, and 960 members of the public from the United Kingdom, and the United States, and evaluated attitudes toward psychiatric genetic testing. Participants were asked hypothetical questions about their interest in psychiatric genetic testing, perceived usefulness of psychiatric genetic testing, and beliefs about malleability of behavior, among others. We also asked them to estimate the heritability of alcohol dependence, schizophrenia, and major depression. We found a high interest in psychiatric genetic testing. In most cases, more than a third of the participants showed serious concerns related to learning about personal genetic predisposition, such as not wanting to have children if they knew they had a high genetic predisposition, or not wanting to choose a partner with a high genetic predisposition for a mental health problem. Finally, we found a significant association between most participants' attitudes and their lay estimates of heritability, which highlights the complexity of educating the public about genetics.

中文翻译：

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在美国、英国和澳大利亚调查心理健康障碍的感知遗传性和对基因检测的态度

我们对精神病特征的遗传性的看法可能会影响我们对在该领域使用遗传信息的反应。在本研究中，我们旨在通过探索与了解精神健康障碍遗传易感性相关的常见恐惧和误解，为未来的教育活动以及遗传咨询干预提供信息。我们调查了来自澳大利亚的 3,646 名基因研究参与者以及来自英国和美国的 960 名公众成员，并评估了对精神科基因检测的态度。参与者被问及关于他们对精神科基因检测的兴趣、精神科基因检测的有用性以及对行为可塑性的信念等假设性问题。我们还要求他们估计酒精依赖的遗传性，精神分裂症和重度抑郁症。我们发现人们对精神科基因检测很感兴趣。在大多数情况下，超过三分之一的参与者表现出与了解个人遗传倾向有关的严重担忧，例如如果他们知道自己有高遗传倾向就不想生孩子，或者不想选择具有高遗传倾向的伴侣。心理健康问题的倾向。最后，我们发现大多数参与者的态度与其对遗传性的外行估计之间存在显着关联，这凸显了对公众进行遗传学教育的复杂性。例如，如果他们知道自己有很高的遗传倾向，就不想生孩子，或者不想选择一个有心理健康问题的高遗传倾向的伴侣。最后，我们发现大多数参与者的态度与其对遗传性的外行估计之间存在显着关联，这凸显了对公众进行遗传学教育的复杂性。例如，如果他们知道自己有很高的遗传倾向，就不想生孩子，或者不想选择一个有心理健康问题的高遗传倾向的伴侣。最后，我们发现大多数参与者的态度与其对遗传性的外行估计之间存在显着关联，这凸显了对公众进行遗传学教育的复杂性。