Figure 2.

Interaction of genetic factors with early life events to generate vulnerabilities for stress-sensitive disorders. Genetic predisposition (presumably multigenetic traits) interacts with prenatal and early life stressors to program the stress responsiveness (or resilience towards stress) of the adult organism. This enhanced stress responsiveness pertains to both psychological and physical stressors. Perpetuating factors that play a role in the chronicity of symptoms include symptom-related fears and anxiety (modified from Mayer and Collins, 2002) (45).