Networks of problems: social, psychological, and genetic influences on health

Freese, Jeremy; Baer-Bositis, Livia

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.11.015

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 36 publications

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“…PGIs have become a vital product from the GWAS of complex diseases. However, not only has GWAS been more slowly successful with depression compared to many other traits, but the actual insights that GWAS results have provided in terms of elucidating causal pathways for depression have been far fewer than earlier hoped (Freese and Baer-Bositis 2019;Ormel et al 2019). Part of the elusiveness is due to some significant part of this genetic etiology representing different ways that genetic differences influence the relationship between depressive behaviors and the environment.…”

Section: Exploratory Analyses Of Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Influences on Depression and Selection into Adverse Life Experiences

Rauf,

Freese

2024

Preprint

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Genome-wide association studies find that a large number of genetic variants jointly influence the risk of depression, which is summarized by polygenic indices (PGIs) of depressive symptoms and major depression. But PGIs by design remain agnostic about the causal mechanisms linking genes to depression. Meanwhile, the role of adverse life experiences in shaping depression risk is well-documented, including via gene-environment correlation. Building on theoretical work on dynamic and contingent genetic selection, we suggest that genetic influences may lead to differential selection into negative life experiences, forging gene-environment correlations that manifest in various permutations of depressive behaviors and environmental adversities. Using data from two large surveys of middle-aged and older US adults, we investigate to what extent a PGI of depression predicts the risk of 27 different adversities. Further, to glean insights about the kinds of processes that might lead to gene-environment correlation, we augment these analyses with data from an original preregistered survey to measure cultural understandings of the behavioral dependence of various adversities. We find that the PGI predicts the risk of majority of adversities, net of class background and prior depression, and that the selection risk is greater for adversities typically perceived as being dependent on peoples’ own behaviors. These findings suggest that the PGI of depression largely picks up the risk of behaviorally-influenced adversities, but to a lesser degree also captures other environmental influences. The results invite further exploration into the behavioral and interactional processes that lie along the pathways intervening between genetic differences and wellbeing.

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Section: Exploratory Analyses Of Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Influences on Depression and Selection into Adverse Life Experiences

Rauf,

Freese

2024

Preprint

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Genetic influences on depression and selection into adverse life experiences

Rauf,

Freese

2024

Social Science & Medicine

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A novel, complex systems approach to modelling risk of psychological distress in young adolescents

Beaudequin

Schwenn

McLoughlin

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Adolescence is a period of significant anatomical and functional brain changes, and complex interactions occur between mental health risk factors. The Longitudinal Adolescent Brain Study commenced in 2018, to monitor environmental and psychosocial factors influencing mental health in 500 adolescents, for 5 years. Participants are recruited at age 12 from the community in Australia’s Sunshine Coast region. In this baseline, cross-sectional study of N = 64 participants, we draw on the network perspective, conceptualising mental disorders as causal systems of interacting entities, to propose a Bayesian network (BN) model of lifestyle and psychosocial variables influencing chances of individuals being psychologically well or experiencing psychological distress. Sensitivity analysis of network priors revealed that psychological distress (Kessler-10) was most affected by eating behaviour. Unhealthy eating increased the chance of moderate psychological distress by 600%. Low social connectedness increased the chance of severe psychological disorder by 200%. Certainty for psychological wellness required 33% decrease in unhealthy eating behaviours, 11% decrease in low social connectedness, and 9% reduction in less physical activity. BN can augment clinician judgement in mental disorders as probabilistic decision support systems. The full potential of BN methodology in a complex systems approach to psychopathology has yet to be realised.

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Networks of problems: social, psychological, and genetic influences on health

Cited by 3 publications

References 36 publications

Genetic Influences on Depression and Selection into Adverse Life Experiences

Genetic Influences on Depression and Selection into Adverse Life Experiences

Genetic influences on depression and selection into adverse life experiences

A novel, complex systems approach to modelling risk of psychological distress in young adolescents

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