Parental depression but not parental cancer is associated with high cortisol levels in adolescent males

Abstract

Background: Parenting dimensions are associatedwith depressive symptoms in adolescents. We investigated gene-environment interactions between perceived parenting dimensions and 5 well knownVariableNumber TandemRepeats (VNTR) in 4 genes associated with monoamine neurotransmission: 5-HTTLPR, STin2 in the serotonin transporter gene and theDAT1, DRD4 andMAOA repeats. Methods: A population sample of 1103 Belgian adolescents and their parents (mean age: 13.79 years, SD=0.94) were asked to fill out questionnaires. From each of them 5 VNTR’s were analyzed using DNA from saliva samples. Perceived parenting dimensions were explored using the LAPPS and VSOG self-report scale. After factor analysis, 5 factors were defined: support, proactive control, psychological control, punishmentandharshpunishment. Thephenotype “depressive symptoms” was investigated using the CES-D self-report scale. Statistical analyses were performed in R using linear regression techniques. Results: Perceived parenting dimensions,more specifically perceived support and psychological control, seem strongly associated with depressive symptoms as reported in CES-D (p<0.001). The only interaction effect that withstood multiple testing (p<0.0014) was seen for 5-HTTLPR and the difference in proactive control as perceived by the adolescents in comparison to the parental perception. Conclusions: Our results suggest that perceived parenting dimensions are strongly associated with depressive symptoms, as reported by the CES-D scale. We only found evidence for 5-HTTLPR to interact with the difference in perceived proactive control in the causation of depressive symptoms in adolescents.