Takahashi Y, Pingault JB, Yamagata S, et al. - Researchers sought to determine both the phenotypic and aetiological architectures of self-reported depression among a Japanese adult twin sample via performing a genetically informed factor analysis. Four hundred twenty five twin pairs (301 monozygotic and 124 dizygotic twin pairs) self-rated depressive symptoms assessed by Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale. Following three symptom domains were extracted via performing an exploratory factor analysis: cognitive, affective and somatic symptomatology; these three specific factors are mostly explained by non-shared environmental factors, which include measurement error. A substantially heritable general factor may lead to adequate detection of depression symptomatology. In a Japanese adult sample, the heritability of this factor (47%) is in line with commonly reported heritability estimates for depression.