Polygenic risk and trajectories of depressive symptoms in diverse adolescents: Gene-environment interplay with family conflict and parental acceptance.

Introduction Prior research suggests sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth are profoundly impacted by levels of parental support. This study assessed mediating effects of generalized family acceptance and conflict on lifetime suicidal behaviors among a large diverse sample comprising both SGM and non-SGM youth in early adolescence, when intervention to optimize family dynamics may be critical. Materials Using data from the first-year follow-up of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study based in the United States, mediation was tested using a binary logistic regression model fitted with a generalized structural equation. Models included SGM status as the independent variable, family acceptance or family conflict sum score as the mediator, and the presence of lifetime suicidal behaviors as the dependent variable. Models adjusted for age, birth-assigned sex (as reported by the parent/guardian), and race/ethnicity. Results Of 11,235 youths, lifetime suicidal behaviors were reported by 1.5% (n = 164). Youths with SGM identities reported 40% less parental acceptance and 47% greater family conflict, compared to non-SGM peers. Both parental acceptance and family conflict partially mediated associations between SGM identification and odds of lifetime suicidal behavior (ps = .001). Conclusions Identification of modifiable risk factors for suicidality in this vulnerable population, including parental acceptance and family conflict, is critical to improving health outcomes. Clinicians should work with SGM youth and their families starting in childhood to optimize family dynamics and bolster acceptance to potentially reduce adverse health outcomes. HIGHLIGHTS Youths with SGM identity reported 40% less parental acceptance than non-SGM peers. Parental acceptance was associated with lower odds of lifetime suicidal behaviors. Family factors partially mediated associations between SGM status and suicidal behaviors.

This study examined the independent and interactive effects of alcohol use disorder genome-wide polygenic scores (AUD-PGS) and parenting and family conflict on early adolescent externalizing behaviors. Data were drawn from White (N = 6181, 46.9% female), Black/African American (N = 1784, 50.1% female), and Hispanic/Latinx (N = 2410, 48.0% female) youth from the adolescent brain cognitive development Study (ABCD). Parents reported on youth externalizing behaviors at baseline (T1, age 9/10), 1-year (T2, age 10/11) and 2-year (T3, age 11/12) assessments. Youth reported on parenting and family environment at T1 and provided saliva or blood samples for genotyping. Results from latent growth models indicated that in general externalizing behaviors decreased from T1 to T3. Across all groups, higher family conflict was associated with more externalizing behaviors at T1, and we did not find significant associations between parental monitoring and early adolescent externalizing behaviors. Parental acceptance was associated with lower externalizing behaviors among White and Hispanic youth, but not among Black youth. Results indicated no significant main effect of AUD-PGS nor interaction effect between AUD-PGS and family variables on early adolescent externalizing behaviors. Post hoc exploratory analysis uncovered an interaction between AUD-PGS and parental acceptance such that AUD-PGS was positively associated with externalizing rule-breaking behaviors among Hispanic youth, but only when parental acceptance was very low. Findings highlight the important role of family conflict and parental acceptance in externalizing behaviors among early adolescents, and emphasize the need to examine other developmental pathways underlying genetic risk for AUD across diverse populations.

Few studies have examined effects of intrinsic motivation (IM) on adaptive behaviors among adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D), although greater IM has been associated with less diabetes-related family conflict (FC) and increased regimen adherence. Greater FC has also been associated with disordered eating behaviors (DEBs). We examined the moderating role of IM between FC and DEBs in a culturally diverse sample of youth with T1D. 226 adolescents (Mage = 15.03, 59.3% female, 65.8% Hispanic, 19.0% Black, MA1c = 8.19%, 74.30% eligible for subsidized health insurance) completed pre-visit screening measures assessing IM, FC, and DEBs. Gender, race, ethnicity, A1c, BMI, and insurance status were obtained from medical records and treated as covariates. Black youth had higher rates of DEBs (p < .01) and A1c levels (p < .001) than White youth. Significant correlations were observed across study variables. Accounting for covariates, IM moderated the relationship between FC and DEBs, whereby the effect of FC on DEBs emerged strongest at low IM (p < .001). As IM levels increased, the effect of FC on DEBs decreased, making the relationship between FC and DEBs non-significant. Greater IM for diabetes management attenuates the association between FC and DEBs. Promoting IM may decrease FC and DEBs in youth with T1D.

Objective: This study examined cross-sectional and prospective differences in mental health and family functioning among caregivers aware of their child’s self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB), caregivers unaware of their child’s SITB, and caregivers of children without SITB. Methods: Data were drawn from an epidemiological U.S. sample of 11,303 children (ages 9-10) and their caregivers who participated in three-yearly assessments as part of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study. Caregivers reported on their child’s SITB, family conflict, and their own mental health problems. Children reported on their SITB, family conflict, parental monitoring, and parental acceptance. Results: Compared to caregivers of non-SITB children (81%), both aware (9.9%) and unaware (9.1%) caregivers reported more externalizing problems at baseline and family conflict at baseline and follow-up. Their children reported more family conflict and lower parental monitoring and acceptance at baseline and follow-up. Relative to unaware caregivers and those with non-SITB children, aware caregivers reported higher levels of internalizing problems at baseline and higher odds for SITB at baseline and follow-up. Children of aware caregivers reported lower family conflict and higher parental monitoring and acceptance at baseline, relative to children of unaware caregivers. However, aware caregivers reported higher levels of family conflict at baseline and one year later. Conclusions: Caregivers of children with SITB, whether aware or unaware, experienced externalizing problems and long-term negative effects on family functioning. Aware caregivers faced greater psychological distress. Family-focused interventions that address the quality of parent-child relationships and caregivers’ mental health are vital to reducing youth SITB risk.

Prevalence and correlates of maladaptive guilt in middle childhood

This study explored the associations between problems with self-regulation and glycemic control (HbA1c) in teens experiencing challenges with managing type 1 diabetes by examining greater diabetes-related family conflict and poorer adherence as serial mediators of the link between greater problems with self-regulation and higher HbA1c. Teens experiencing challenges with managing type 1 diabetes (n = 93, HbA1c ≥8%, 96% White, 57% male) completed an HbA1c test, and their parents completed assessments including measures of adherence and family conflict related to diabetes management during an intake for a larger Web-based intervention study or fMRI study. Teen problems with self-regulation were indexed the Child Behavior Checklist using the dysregulation profile. Bivariate correlations found significant associations between greater problems with self-regulation, greater family conflict about diabetes management, poorer adherence, and higher HbA1c. However, only greater family conflict, and not adherence, significantly explained the association between greater self-regulation problems and higher HbA1c. These findings suggest that among teens experiencing challenges with managing type 1 diabetes, interventions that decrease family conflict may be critical to promoting optimal glycemic control in those teens with greater problems with self-regulation.

Adolescent depression rates increased during the COVID-19 pandemic globally. Data on risk and resilience factors can inform prevention and intervention strategies during a major adversity. To characterize depression symptom trajectories from before, during, and after the lockdown stages of the pandemic and to identify prospective risk and resilience factors. This cohort study followed participants from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study ascertained through 21 sites across the US from before March 2020 to February 2022. The design and hypotheses were preregistered in March 2024. Analyses were conducted from April to November 2024. Prepandemic risk and resilience factors spanning developmental stage, household environment, peer relationships, and depression polygenic risk. The primary outcome was depression-susceptible symptom trajectory of low prepandemic and high postpandemic symptoms. Trajectories of depression symptom score (6 symptoms: depressed mood, anhedonia, guilt or worthlessness, fatigue, sleep, and concentration impairments) were modeled using logistic regression models with prepandemic factors (independent variables) explaining trajectory class (dependent variable; resilient, 0; depression susceptible, 1), adjusting for sex and age at the pandemic onset. In the sample of 3512 participants included in the analyses (mean [SD] age in March 2020, 12.05 [0.85] years; 1672 [47.6%] female), a 3-class trajectory model identified resilient (low symptoms throughout follow-up, 3027 participants [86.2%]), depression-susceptible (low symptoms before the pandemic and high symptoms after the pandemic, 326 participants [9.3%]), and chronically high (159 participants [4.5%]) symptom trajectory classes. Girls were overrepresented in the depression-susceptible vs the resilient group (240 girls [73.6%] vs 1327 girls [43.8%]). The depression-susceptible trajectory, compared with the resilient trajectory, was associated with late pubertal or postpubertal stage before the pandemic (odds ratio [OR], 1.46; 95% CI, 1.08-1.96; P = .01), prepandemic family conflict (OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.10-1.38; P < .001), peer bullying (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.11-2.65; P = .02), cyberbullying (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.45-3.59; P < .001), maternal history of depression (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.16-1.99; P = .002), polyenvironmental adversity exposure (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.13-1.45; P < .001), and polygenic risk of depression (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.03-1.59; P = .02 among those of European-like genetic ancestry, but not those of African-like ancestry). Greater prepandemic parental monitoring (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.73-0.91; P < .001) and problem-solving skills (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66-0.97; P = .02) were associated with lower depression susceptibility. In this cohort study of adolescent depression trajectories throughout COVID-19, girls, teens in later puberty, and those with experiences of peer bullying, cyberbullying, and greater family conflict before the pandemic were more susceptible to developing depressive symptoms that persisted after the pandemic, whereas prepandemic parental monitoring and problem-solving skills were identified as prospective modifiable resilience factors.

Family cohesion and family conflict are important protective and risk factors respectively in the development of child psychopathology. Our study examines parent-adolescent discrepancy of the family environment constructs, family cohesion and family conflict, and their associations with adolescent impairment. The sample consists of 141 parent-adolescent dyads evaluated at an outpatient behavioral health clinic. The mean adolescent age is 14.8 (range 11–18) while the mean parent age is 48.9 (range 32–67). Findings show that adolescents report significantly less family cohesion but do not differ significantly in reports of family conflict. Greater family cohesion is associated with less adolescent impairment by multiple reporters. Nonetheless, greater family conflict is associated with more adolescent impairment by the same reporter. The results show that both adolescent and parent reports of family cohesion and conflict are important to consider when integrating information gathered in a clinical assessment.

Children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits are at risk for severe conduct problems. While CU traits are moderately heritable, parenting also predicts risk. However, few studies have investigated whether parenting factors (e.g., acceptance, conflict, parental psychopathology) moderate the etiology of CU traits, while accounting for gene-environment correlations. To address this knowledge gap, we used data from 772 twin pairs from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study to test bivariate models that explored overlapping etiological influences on CU traits and child reports of their parenting environment. We also used gene-by-environment interaction models to test whether parenting moderated genetic versus environmental influences. There were no overlapping etiological influences on CU traits and parental acceptance, but modest genetic and non-shared environmental overlap between CU traits and family conflict. Parental acceptance and psychopathology moderated non-shared environmental influences, with stronger non-shared environmental influences on CU traits among children who experienced lower parental acceptance and greater parental psychopathology. Family conflict only moderated environmental influences when models did not covary for conduct problems. Parental acceptance and parental psychopathology may be specific environmental protective and risk factors for CU traits, whereas family conflict may represent a general environmental risk factor for both CU traits and conduct problems.

BackgroundGiven the rapidly rising proportion of the older population in China and the relatively high prevalence of depressive symptoms among this population, this study aimed to identify the trajectories of depressive symptoms and the factors associated with the trajectory class to gain a better understanding of the long-term course of depressive symptoms in this population.MethodsData were obtained from four wave’s survey of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). A total of 3646 participants who aged 60 years or older during baseline survey, and completed all follow-ups were retained in this study. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 10-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10). Growth mixture modelling (GMM) was adopted to identify the trajectory classes of depressive symptoms, and both linear and quadratic functions were considered. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of the associated factors to predict the trajectory class of participants.ResultsA four-class quadratic function model was the best-fitting model for the trajectories of depressive symptoms in the older Chinese population. The four trajectories were labelled as increasing (16.70%), decreasing (12.31%), high and stable (7.30%), and low and stable (63.69%), according to their trends. Except for the low and stable trajectory, the other trajectories were almost above the threshold for depressive symptoms. The multivariate logistic regression model suggested that the trajectories of chronic depressive symptoms could be predicted by being female, living in a village (rural area), having a lower educational level, and having chronic diseases.ConclusionsThis study identified four depressive symptom trajectories in the older Chinese population and analysed the factors associated with the trajectory class. These findings can provide references for prevention and intervention to reduce the chronic course of depressive symptoms in the older Chinese population.

Assessing the salience of gene–environment interplay in the development of anger, family conflict, and physical violence: A biosocial test of General Strain Theory

Understanding Social Determinants of Brain Health During Development.

There is limited understanding on how polygenic scores derived from genome-wide association studies of adult and child psychopathology may uniquely predict childhood traits. The current study took a developmental approach to examine the interplay between adult-based and child-based polygenic scores with family processes in predicting trajectories of externalizing behaviors from late childhood to early adolescence among racially-ethnically diverse youth. Data were drawn from the non-Hispanic White (N = 5,907), non-Hispanic Black (N = 1,694), and Hispanic youth (N = 2,117) from the adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study. Parents reported on youth externalizing behaviors at baseline (T1, age 9/10), 1-year (T2, age 10/11), 2-year (T3, age 11/12), and 3-year (T4, age 12/13) follow-up assessments. Youth reported on parenting and family environment at T1 and provided saliva or blood samples for genotyping. Both polygenic scores for adult externalizing and childhood aggression predicted greater likelihood of following trajectories with higher externalizing behaviors. Among non-Hispanic White youth, polygenic scores also predicted greater family conflict, which in turn predicted higher externalizing behavior trajectories. Our findings indicated that both adult-based and child-based polygenic scores for externalizing behaviors are useful in predicting trajectories of externalizing behaviors, highlighting developmental continuity in genetic influences. Family processes, especially family conflict, play an important role in adolescent externalizing behaviors across racial-ethnic groups, suggesting the need to target family conflict in intervention efforts. Findings also highlight the importance of conducting research in diverse populations, including improving diversity in genetically informed studies.

Diabetes-related family conflict is widely regarded as a risk factor for diabetes outcomes, yet it has not been examined on a daily basis. Parental acceptance may attenuate the degree to which family conflict is associated with diabetes outcomes. The present study examined (a) within- and between-person fluctuations in diabetes problems and family conflict, (b) within- and between-person links between conflict and blood glucose (BG) mean, and (c) whether parental acceptance moderated these associations. One hundred eighty adolescents (Mage = 12.92 years) with T1D completed a 14-day diary measuring diabetes problems, conflict with mother, conflict with father, and parental acceptance at the end of each day. Daily average BG values were calculated from glucometer readings. Higher diabetes problems on average across the 14-day diary were associated with more average conflict with mothers (between-person), but daily fluctuations in the number of diabetes problems were not related to daily conflict (within-person). Adolescents with higher conflict with mothers and fathers on average across the 14 days had higher BG means (between-person); however, on days when adolescents reported higher conflict, they had greater risk for low BG (within-person). Daily parental acceptance did not moderate associations between problems and conflict nor conflict and BG mean. This study was the first to examine daily diabetes-specific conflict with mothers and fathers during adolescence. The number of diabetes problems did not predict daily conflict. Fluctuations in daily conflict were associated with greater risk for low BG, underscoring the need for future research examining in-the-moment relations among conflict and BG extremes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A vast array of family processes is linked to child mental development, among which (1) low parental acceptance and (2) high family conflict are known as transdiagnostic risk factors for child internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. In contrast to most prior research adopting cross-sectional or lagged designs, the current study applied fine-grained multilevel modeling to elucidate the complex relationships among parental acceptance, family conflict, and child psychopathology, considering the nesting structure of children within families and longitudinal changes within children. We focused on preadolescents from the two-wave Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 4,953; aged 9-12) and accounted for parental psychopathology and sex differences. Our findings suggest that consistent between-family and between-child differences in parental acceptance play a transdiagnostic role for both child internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, whereas family conflict is only significantly associated with externalizing psychopathology. Additionally, short-term within-family and within-child improvements in parental acceptance and family conflict across one year were associated with decreased externalizing, but not internalizing, psychopathology. These findings support the potential importance and feasibility of targeting these family process factors for child externalizing problems outside of an intensive treatment setting. We further discussed how such findings serve as a foundation for future research on family processes and child internalizing problems. The varying results across different grouping levels highlight the importance of decomposing within- from between-family/child effects in future studies on family processes and child psychopathology.