Polygenic Risk for Major Depression Interacts with Parental Criticism in Predicting Adolescent Depressive Symptom Development

Stefanie A Nelemans,Susan Branje,Marco Boks,Wim Meeus,Bochao Lin,Tineke Oldehinkel,Pol Van Lier

doi:10.1007/s10964-020-01353-4

Abstract

Research has focused more and more on the interplay between genetics and environment in predicting different forms of psychopathology, including depressive symptoms. While the polygenic nature of depressive symptoms is increasingly recognized, only few studies have applied a polygenic approach in gene-by-environment interaction (G × E) studies. Furthermore, longitudinal G × E studies on developmental psychopathological properties of depression are scarce. Therefore, this 6-year longitudinal community study examined the interaction between genetic risk for major depression and a multi-informant longitudinal index of critical parenting in relation to depressive symptom development from early to late adolescence. The sample consisted of 327 Dutch adolescents of European descent (56% boys; Mage T1 = 13.00, SDage T1 = 0.44). Polygenic risk for major depression was based on the Hyde et al. (Nature Genetics, 48, 1031–1036, 2016) meta-analysis and genetic sensitivity analyses were based on the 23andMe discovery dataset. Latent Growth Models suggested that polygenic risk score for major depression was associated with higher depressive symptoms across adolescence (significant main effect), particularly for those experiencing elevated levels of critical parenting (significant G × E). These findings highlight how polygenic risk for major depression in combination with a general environmental factor impacts depressive symptom development from early to late adolescence.

Highlights

These authors jointly supervised this work: Susan Branje, Wim MeeusMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD; American Psychiatric Association 2013) is a common (Kessler et al 2007) and persistent disorder (Eaton et al 2008) that is associated with a variety of comorbid mental health problems and impaired functioning in a wide range of domains (Maske et al 2016)
Only Journal of Youth and Adolescence (2021) 50:159–176 few studies have applied a polygenic approach in gene-byenvironment interaction (G × E) studies. This longitudinal community study examined the interaction between polygenic risk for major depression and critical parenting in relation to depressive symptom development from early to late adolescence
Only few studies have applied a polygenic approach in gene-by-environment interaction studies

Summary

Introduction

These authors jointly supervised this work: Susan Branje, Wim MeeusMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD; American Psychiatric Association 2013) is a common (Kessler et al 2007) and persistent disorder (Eaton et al 2008) that is associated with a variety of comorbid mental health problems and impaired functioning in a wide range of domains (Maske et al 2016). A clinical diagnosis of MDD represents the extreme end of a continuous distribution of symptom severity at the population level (Widiger and Samuel 2005). The same symptoms that define MDD are variable in the general population (Hankin et al 2005; Liu 2016) and adolescence is a critical period for the development of such symptoms (Kessler et al 2012). Research that focuses on the development of depressive symptoms in adolescence and identifies factors that affect this development is essential. While research has focused increasingly on the interplay between genetics and environment, studies in adolescence are scarce and few have used a longitudinal design to consider the developmental psychopathological properties of depression.

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Discussion

Conclusion