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

Past research suggests that polygenic scores for major depressive disorder (MDD-PGS), family conflict, and parental acceptance may all predict depressive outcomes among adolescents. Few studies have examined the interplay of these factors through gene-environment interaction (GxE) and gene-environment correlation (rGE) in racially/ethnically diverse samples of adolescents. Methods: Utilizing latent curve analysis and growth mixture modeling in a diverse sample of 10,771 adolescents from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, the present study examined how MDD-PGS, family conflict, and parental acceptance predicted depressive trajectory class membership through GxE and rGE in independent models for Black, Latinx, and White adolescents. Results: Among all youth, MDD-PGS and family conflict were associated with greater intercept-levels of depressive symptoms. Among Latinx and White youth, parental acceptance was associated with lower intercept levels of depressive symptoms. MDD-PGS (among all youth), lower parental acceptance (among Latinx and White youth), and greater family conflict (among White youth) increased odds of higher-risk trajectories. Evidence of rGE through family conflict was found among White youth. No evidence of GxE was found. Conclusion: Our findings highlight utility of MDD-PGS and the need to expand conceptualizations of environment to identify salient supportive and stressful experiences across racially/ethnically diverse youth.