Investigating the impact of early adversity on perceived support from parents and friends in preadolescence: Do genetic predispositions and timing of exposure matter?

Abstract Background Perceived social support contributes to youth resilience, but perceptions of support differ substantially between youth. Genetic predispositions and early life adversity are potential sources for this variation, but research has yet to test gene‐environment interplay comprehensively. We examined how early adversity and genetic predispositions for educational attainment, internalizing, and externalizing behaviours uniquely and jointly predict parents and friends support at age 11 and explored associations for different timing of adversity. Methods Participants were drawn from TRAILS, a longitudinal study of Dutch adolescents. Adversity was measured during the perinatal period (pregnancy to 1‐month postdelivery) and childhood (ages 0–11) through Preventive Child Healthcare records and parental interviews at age 11. Participants' genotype data were used to derive polygenic scores. Perceived social support from mothers ( n = 1634), fathers ( n = 1609) and friends ( n = 1634) were self‐reported at age 11. Results Genetic predispositions for internalizing and externalizing problems were associated with higher childhood adversity and were indirectly related to lower perceived social support. Exposure to perinatal adversity was related to higher maternal support during adolescence, while childhood adversity was associated with less paternal support. These associations further varied based on specific subtypes of adversity, but not according to adolescents' genetic predispositions. Conclusion Adolescents' genetic liabilities to internalizing and externalizing behaviours predicted early adversity, which correlated with parental but not friends' support. These associations were found to vary based on the timing and nature of adversity, underscoring the need for future studies to more consistently account for these factors and to examine their underlying mechanisms.