Harsh Parenting and Serotonin Transporter and BDNF Val66Met Polymorphisms as Predictors of Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Objective Depressive symptoms are prevalent and rise during adolescence. The present study is a prospective investigation of environmental and genetic factors that contribute to the growth in depressive symptoms and the frequency of heightened symptoms during adolescence. Method Participants included 206 mother-father-adolescent triads (M age at T1 = 13.06 years, SD = .51, 52% female). Harsh parenting was observationally assessed during a family conflict paradigm. DNA was extracted from saliva samples and genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR and BDNF Val66Met polymorphisms. Adolescents provide self-reports of depressive symptoms annually across early adolescence. Results The results reveal gene-by-environment (GxE) interactions as predictors of adolescent depressive symptom trajectories in the context of harsh parenting as an environmental risk factor. A BDNF Val66Met x harsh parenting interaction predicted the rise in depressive symptoms across a three-year period while a 5-HTTLPR x harsh parenting interaction predicted greater frequency in elevated depressive symptoms. Conclusions The findings highlight the importance of unique genetic and environmental influences in the development and course of heightened depressive symptoms during adolescence.

Beyond the dyad: the role of mother and father in newborns’ global DNA methylation during the first month of life—a pilot study

“…Both the serotonin transporter linked polymorphism ( 5‐HTTLPR ) and the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF ) Val66Met polymorphism were reported as moderators in the family risk‐adjustment difficulties association (Carver et al., 2011; Taylor et al., 2011). In particular, these polymorphisms seem implicated in increased risk for depression in the presence of environmental adversity (Caspi et al., 2003; Koss et al., 2018; Phillips, 2017; Valderrama & Miranda, 2017).…”

The interplay of polygenic plasticity and adrenocortical activity as sources of variability in pathways among family adversity, youth emotional reactivity, and psychological problems

“…Relative to the BDNF Val allele, the Met allele of the polymorphism is associated with diminished BDNF protein expression in the brain (Chen et al, 2004; Egan et al, 2003). Despite some empirical inconsistencies in the identification of the BDNF gene as a moderator of environmental factors, findings from many studies have shown that socialization histories and offspring psychological functioning are heightened for Met allele carriers (Clasen, Wells, Knopik, McGeary, & Beevers, 2011; Koss, Cummings, Davies, Hetzel, & Cicchetti, 2016; Kretschmer, Vitaro, & Barker, 2014). Although the findings from these studies are commonly interpreted within diathesis-stress models, follow-up analyses directly examining the relative correspondence between the BDNF moderating findings and the diathesis-stress and differential susceptibility models are rarely conducted.…”