Genetic propensity for risky behavior and depression and risk of lifetime suicide attempt among urban African Americans in adolescence and young adulthood

Abstract

Suicide attempts (SA) among African Americans have increased at a greater rate than any other racial/ethnic group. Research in European ancestry populations has indicated that SA are genetically influenced; however, less is known about the genetic contributors that underpin SA among African Americans. We examined whether genetic propensity for depression and risky behaviors (assessed via polygenic risk scores; PRS) independently and jointly are associated with SA among urban, African Americans and whether sex differences exist in these relations. Participants (N = 1,157, 45.0% male) were originally recruited as part of two first grade universal school-based prevention trials. Participants reported in adolescence and young adulthood on whether they ever attempted suicide in their life. Depression and risky behaviors PRS were created based on large-scale genome-wide association studies conducted by Howard et al. (2019) and Karlson Línner et al. (2019), respectively.There was a significant interaction between the risky behavior PRS and depression PRS such that the combination of high risky behavior polygenic risk and low/moderate polygenic risk for depression was associated with greater risk for lifetime SA among the whole sample and African American males specifically. In addition, the risky behavior PRS was significantly positively associated with lifetime SA among African American males. These findings provide preliminary evidence regarding the importance of examining risky behavior and depression polygenic risk in relation to SA among African Americans, though replication of our findings in other African American samples is needed.

Genetics and epigenetics of self‐injurious thoughts and behaviors: Systematic review of the suicide literature and methodological considerations

“…Other studies have tested the cross‐ancestry predictive capability of PRS which are built in European samples. For example, a combination of high PRS for risky behavior and low to moderate PRS for depression (both European‐based) predicted lifetime SA in a cohort of young African Americans (Rabinowitz et al, 2021). A European‐based PRS for depression predicted SITB only in Mexican adolescents, but not adults (Martinez‐Levy et al, 2021).…”

The Association between Perceived Family Financial Stress and Adolescent Suicide Ideation: A Moderated Mediation Model

“…These negative and painful feelings accompanying depression, which are considered high risks of suicidal ideation, tend to cause individuals to generate suicidal ideation and even commit suicide [39,40]. Moreover, relevant empirical evidence has been accumulated that depression would increase the risk of self-injury, attempted or completed suicide, and other risky behaviors [41][42][43][44][45]. Thus, perceived family financial stress may increase the risk of depression and further lead to suicidal ideation.…”

MUSSEL: Enhanced Bayesian polygenic risk prediction leveraging information across multiple ancestry groups

“… 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 As sample sizes for GWASs in many non-EUR populations remain low for many traits, applications of PRSs often rely on EUR-based models, which underperform in other populations due in part to differences in allele frequencies, SNP effect sizes, and linkage disequilibrium (LD). 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 …”