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Salvatore JE, Ohlsson H, Sundquist J, Sundquist K, Kendler KS. Peer Social Genetic Effects and the Etiology of Substance Use Disorders, Major Depression, and Anxiety Disorder in a Swedish National Sample. Am J Psychiatry 2024; 181:824-833. [PMID: 39108160 PMCID: PMC11366501 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20230358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/02/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE There is growing interest in how peers' genotypes may influence health (i.e., peer social genetic effects). The authors sought to clarify the nature of peer social genetic effects on risk for drug use disorder, alcohol use disorder (AUD), major depression, and anxiety disorder. METHOD Cox models were used with data from a population-based Swedish cohort (N=655,327). Outcomes were drug use disorder, AUD, major depression, and anxiety disorder registrations between ages 17 and 30 from medical, criminal, and pharmacy registries. The authors indexed peer social genetic effects with peers' family genetic risk scores (FGRSs) for the same disorders, which are personalized measures of genetic risk inferred from diagnoses in first- to fifth-degree relatives. RESULTS Across disorders, peer FGRSs predicted increased risks of proband registration (hazard ratio range, 1.01-1.59), with stronger effects for drug use disorder and AUD than for major depression and anxiety disorder. Peer social genetic effects were stronger for school classmates than for geographically proximal peers, and for peers from upper secondary school (ages 16-19) versus peers from lower secondary school (ages 7-16). Peer social genetic effects remained significant following statistical control for sociodemographic confounders, whether peers were affected, and peers' FGRS for educational attainment. Peer social genetic effects were more pronounced for probands at higher genetic risk. CONCLUSIONS The genetic makeup of adolescents' peers has long-reaching consequences on risks for drug use disorder, AUD, major depression, and anxiety disorder. Individuals at high genetic risk are more sensitive to social genetic effects. Alternative hypotheses such as sociodemographic stratification, exposure to affected peers, and genetic predispositions for educational attainment did not explain the risk associated with peer social genetic effects for substance use and psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica E. Salvatore
- Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University
| | - Henrik Ohlsson
- Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University
| | - Jan Sundquist
- Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University
| | | | - Kenneth S. Kendler
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University
- Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University
- Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University
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Qian W, Zhang C, Piersiak HA, Humphreys KL, Mitchell C. Biomarker adoption in developmental science: A data-driven modelling of trends from 90 biomarkers across 20 years. INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 2024; 33:e2366. [PMID: 38389732 PMCID: PMC10882483 DOI: 10.1002/icd.2366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Developmental scientists have adopted numerous biomarkers in their research to better understand the biological underpinnings of development, environmental exposures, and variation in long-term health. Yet, adoption patterns merit investigation given the substantial resources used to collect, analyse, and train to use biomarkers in research with infants and children. We document trends in use of 90 biomarkers between 2000 and 2020 from approximately 430,000 publications indexed by the Web of Science. We provide a tool for researchers to examine each of these biomarkers individually using a data-driven approach to estimate the biomarker growth trajectory based on yearly publication number, publication growth rate, number of author affiliations, National Institutes of Health dedicated funding resources, journal impact factor, and years since the first publication. Results indicate that most biomarkers fit a "learning curve" trajectory (i.e., experience rapid growth followed by a plateau), though a small subset decline in use over time.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chao Zhang
- Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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Bierut L, Biroli P, Galama TJ, Thom K. Challenges in studying the interplay of genes and environment. A study of childhood financial distress moderating genetic predisposition for peak smoking. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC PSYCHOLOGY 2023; 98:102636. [PMID: 37484514 PMCID: PMC10358858 DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2023.102636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable disease and death in the U.S., and it is strongly influenced both by genetic predisposition and childhood adversity. Using polygenic indices (PGIs) of predisposition to smoking, we evaluate whether childhood financial distress (CFD; a composite measure of financial adversity) moderates genetic risk in explaining peak-cigarette consumption in adulthood. Using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we find a substantial reduction in the relationship between genetic risk and peak smoking for those who did not suffer financial adversity in childhood. Among adult smokers who grew up in high-CFD households, a one standard deviation higher PGI is associated with 2.9 more cigarettes smoked per day at peak. By contrast, among smokers who grew up in low-CFD households, this gradient is reduced by 37 percent (or 1.1 fewer). These results are robust to controlling for a host of prime confounders. By contrast, we find no evidence of interactions between the PGI and typical measures of childhood SES such as parental education - a null result that we replicate in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). This suggests the role of childhood financial distress in the relationship with peak smoking is distinct from that of low childhood SES, with high CFD potentially reflecting more acute distress than do measures of low childhood SES. Our evidence also suggests low childhood SES is a weaker proxy for acute distress, providing an alternative explanation for the childhood SES null result.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Bierut
- Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Pietro Biroli
- Department of Economics, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Titus J Galama
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Hong J, Dembo RS, DaWalt LS, Baker MW, Berry-Kravis E, Mailick MR. Mortality in Women across the FMR1 CGG Repeat Range: The Neuroprotective Effect of Higher Education. Cells 2023; 12:2137. [PMID: 37681869 PMCID: PMC10486613 DOI: 10.3390/cells12172137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Revised: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Higher education has been shown to have neuroprotective effects, reducing the risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, slowing the rate of age-related cognitive decline, and is associated with lower rates of early mortality. In the present study, the association between higher education, fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein 1 (FMR1) cytosine-guanine-guanine (CGG) repeat number, and mortality before life expectancy was investigated in a population cohort of women born in 1939. The findings revealed a significant interaction between years of higher education and CGG repeat number. Counter to the study's hypothesis, the effects of higher education became more pronounced as the number of CGG repeats increased. There was no effect of years of higher education on early mortality for women who had 25 repeats, while each year of higher education decreased the hazard of early mortality by 8% for women who had 30 repeats. For women with 41 repeats, the hazard was decreased by 14% for each additional year of higher education. The interaction remained significant after controlling for IQ and family socioeconomic status (SES) measured during high school, as well as factors measured during adulthood (family, psychosocial, health, and financial factors). The results are interpreted in the context of differential sensitivity to the environment, a conceptualization that posits that some people are more reactive to both negative and positive environmental conditions. Expansions in CGG repeats have been shown in previous FMR1 research to manifest such a differential sensitivity pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinkuk Hong
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; (R.S.D.); (L.S.D.); (M.R.M.)
| | - Robert S. Dembo
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; (R.S.D.); (L.S.D.); (M.R.M.)
- NORC at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60603, USA
| | - Leann Smith DaWalt
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; (R.S.D.); (L.S.D.); (M.R.M.)
| | - Mei Wang Baker
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53792, USA;
- Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Elizabeth Berry-Kravis
- Department of Pediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA;
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
| | - Marsha R. Mailick
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; (R.S.D.); (L.S.D.); (M.R.M.)
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Zheng B, Fletcher J, Zheng F, Lu Q. Gene-by-peer-environment interaction effects on cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use among US high school students of European Ancestry. Soc Sci Med 2022; 309:115249. [PMID: 35944351 PMCID: PMC9793417 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2022] [Revised: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Research has shown that adolescents' substance use behavior is determined not only by individual characteristics but also by peer environments, and an emerging literature in social genomics has also found that individual genotypes moderate peer effects on egos' substance use. However, the previous literature on genetic by peer environment (GxPE) interaction effects is limited by the use of genetic measures with limited power and a lack of focus on causality. Based on a sample of about 4000 adolescents of European Ancestry from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study utilizes polygenic scores to examine GxPE interactions between ego's genetics and peers' cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. The results show peers' cigarette and marijuana use positively affect ego's substance use, and peer effects are stronger when the ego is genetically predisposed to substance use. However, genetic propensities toward risk tolerance are found to weaken the peer effects on the ego's marijuana use. Overall, our findings provide new evidence for the existence of GxPE effects on adolescent substance use and reveal the multidimensional nature of GxPE effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boyan Zheng
- Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
| | - Jason Fletcher
- Department of Sociology, La Follette School of Public Affairs and Center for Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
| | - Fengyi Zheng
- Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
| | - Qiongshi Lu
- Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
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Markovitch N, Kirkpatrick RM, Knafo-Noam A. Are Different Individuals Sensitive to Different Environments? Individual Differences in Sensitivity to the Effects of the Parent, Peer and School Environment on Externalizing Behavior and its Genetic and Environmental Etiology. Behav Genet 2021; 51:492-511. [PMID: 34195925 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-021-10075-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Externalizing behavior is substantially affected by genetic effects, which are moderated by environmental exposures. However, little is known about whether these moderation effects differ depending on individual characteristics, and whether moderation of environmental effects generalizes across different environmental domains. With a large sample (N = 1,441 individuals) of early adolescent twins (ages 11 and 13), using a longitudinal multi-informant design, we tested interaction effects between negative emotionality and both positive and negative aspects of three key social domains: parents, peers, and schools, on the phenotypic variance as well as the etiology of externalizing. Negative emotionality moderated some of the environmental effects on the phenotypic, genetic, and environmental variance in externalizing, with adolescents at both ends of the negative emotionality distribution showing different patterns of sensitivity to the tested environmental influences. This is the first use of gene-environment interaction twin models to test individual differences in environmental sensitivity, offering a new approach to study such effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noam Markovitch
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, 91905, Jerusalem, Israel.
| | - Robert M Kirkpatrick
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA
| | - Ariel Knafo-Noam
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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Lardier DT, Coakley KE, Holladay KR, Amorim FT, Zuhl MN. Exercise as a Useful Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Consumption and Improve Physical Fitness in Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Psychol 2021; 12:675285. [PMID: 34305729 PMCID: PMC8292965 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.675285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective: This meta-analysis and systematic review examined the effects of exercise interventions on alcohol consumption and binge drinking in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Data sources: PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, SPORTDiscus, and ERIC databases. Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: Peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials published in English between 1970 and 2021. All studies compared exercise (Ex) and treatment as usual (TAU) to TAU in adults with an alcohol-related diagnosis. All forms of exercise interventions were included (e.g., aerobic exercise, yoga, resistance exercise, etc.). Data Extraction: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols standard and the Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews of Observational Studies guidelines were followed. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool as described by the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews and Interventions. Results: The literature searches retrieved a combined 2527 studies, with 1,034 studies screened after removal of duplicates and 973 (94%) rejected after reviewing titles and abstracts. Full-text review was performed on 61 studies, with seven studies meeting inclusion criteria for qualitative and meta-analysis. Across seven studies (n = 492 participants), a significant effect (Z-value = -3.37; g = -0.30; 95% CI [-0.50--0.09]; p = 0.001) was found for Ex+TAU on drinking volume. There was no effect of Ex+TAU on binge drinking. The effect of Ex+TAU on physical fitness (VO2max, ml•kg-1•min-1) was significant (Z-score = 3.70; g = 0.64; 95% CI [0.19-1.08]; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Exercise interventions may decrease alcohol consumption and improve fitness and can be an effective adjunctive treatment for individuals with alcohol-related diagnoses including AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- David T. Lardier
- Department of Individual, Family and Community Education, College of Education and Human Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Kathryn E. Coakley
- Department of Individual, Family and Community Education, College of Education and Human Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Kelley R. Holladay
- Department of Individual, Family and Community Education, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
- College of Health Sciences, Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Fabiano T. Amorim
- Department of Health Education and Sports Sciences College of Education and Human Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
| | - Micah N. Zuhl
- School of Health Sciences, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, United States
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Mullola S, Brooks-Gunn J, Elovainio M, Hakulinen C, Schneper LM, Notterman DA. Early childhood psychosocial family risks and cumulative dopaminergic sensitizing score: Links to behavior problems in U.S. 9-year-olds. J Affect Disord 2021; 280:432-441. [PMID: 33227672 PMCID: PMC7839973 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.11.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND We examined, (a) whether in early childhood exposure to risky family environment in different domains (socioeconomic, mental, parenting practices, health behavior, and child-related risks) and accumulatively across various domains (cumulative risk) is associated with child's problem behavior at age 9, and (b) whether the association is more pronounced in children carrying cumulative dopaminergic sensitizing genotype or living in low-income families. METHODS Participants were 2,860 9-year old children (48% females; 48% Black) and their mothers from the 'Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study', a probability birth cohort from large U.S. cities. Mothers responded to questions on child's problem behavior (CBCL). Children responded to questions about their vandalism and substance use. RESULTS Cumulative family risk was associated with higher internalizing and externalizing behavior and higher vandalism and substance use. All domain-specific risk clusters were associated with higher internalizing behavior and, with the exception of child-related risk, with higher externalizing behavior. Mental health risks, risky parenting practices, and risky health behavior were associated with higher vandalism. Risky parenting practices were associated with higher substance use. The associations were robust to adjustment for cumulative dopaminergic sensitizing genotype. No G x E interactions with dopaminergic genotype and family SES were observed. LIMITATIONS Sample size was relatively small for genetic analysis and polygenic risk scores were not available. CONCLUSIONS Exposure to cumulative psychosocial family risks from early childhood is associated with early indicators of problem behavior in adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sari Mullola
- Columbia University, Teachers College, National Center for Children and Families (NCCF), Thorndike Hall 525 West 120th Street, Box 39 New York, NY 10027, USA; Tampere University, Faculty of Education and Culture, Main Campus Virta, Åkerlundinkatu 5, P.O. Box 700, FI-33014 Tampere University, Finland; University of Helsinki, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Siltavuorenpenger 5A, P.O. Box 9, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
- Columbia University, Teachers College, National Center for Children and Families (NCCF), Thorndike Hall 525 West 120th Street, Box 39 New York, NY 10027, USA; Columbia University, The College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10027, USA.
| | - Marko Elovainio
- University of Helsinki, Medical Faculty, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Helsinki, Finland; Institute for Health and Welfare, P.O. Box 30, 00370 Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Christian Hakulinen
- University of Helsinki, Medical Faculty, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Lisa M. Schneper
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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Turner JH, Schutt RK, Keshavan MS. Biology and American Sociology, Part II: Developing a Unique Evolutionary Sociology. THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGIST 2020; 51:470-505. [PMID: 32836293 PMCID: PMC7275132 DOI: 10.1007/s12108-020-09448-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
In sociology's formative period between 1830 and 1930, evolutionary analysis organized much theorizing and research. This line of work ended abruptly in the 1920s but, over the last decades, has come back into the discipline somewhat piecemeal with the reintroduction of more sophisticated stage models of societal evolution, functional analysis, human ecological analysis, and other new lines of evolutionary inquiry outlined in this paper. Our goal is to demonstrate that revitalized paradigms of the past can still be useful with modest reconceptualization, while at the same time new intellectual movements in the other social sciences, especially economics and psychology, incorporating evolutionary ideas from biology provide sociology with an opportunity to develop its own approach to evolutionary analysis that avoids the problems that let to the demise of this line of inquiry in the 1920s, as well as the problems of other social sciences applying their more narrowly focus models to sociological problems. Indeed, sociology can become a leader in the social sciences in developing more sophisticated theoretical and methodological approaches to incorporating biology and evolutionary analysis into the social sciences. When presented in a new, more sophisticated guise, old approaches like functionalism, stage models of societal evolution, and ecological models can be seen as still having a great deal of explanatory power, while revealing a progressive and future orientation that should appeal to all contemporary sociologists. It is time, then, for sociology to remember its past in order to move into the future.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Russell K. Schutt
- Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Research Scientist I, University of Massachusetts Boston and Lecturer, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
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Jimenez ME, Reichman NE, Mitchell C, Schneper L, McLanahan S, Notterman DA. Shared Reading at Age 1 Year and Later Vocabulary: A Gene-Environment Study. J Pediatr 2020; 216:189-196.e3. [PMID: 31402141 PMCID: PMC6917887 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2019.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2019] [Revised: 06/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To assess the extent to which associations between shared reading at age 1 years and child vocabulary at age 3 years differ based on the presence of sensitizing alleles in the dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmitter systems. STUDY DESIGN We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a national urban birth cohort using mother reports in conjunction with child assessments and salivary genetic data. Child vocabulary was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The primary exposure was mother-reported shared reading. We used data on gene variants that may affect the function of the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems. We examined associations between shared reading and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test score using multiple linear regression. We then included interaction terms between shared reading and the presence of sensitizing alleles for each polymorphism to assess potential moderator effects adjusting for multiple comparisons. RESULTS Of the 1772 children included (56% black, 52% male), 31% of their mothers reported reading with their child daily. Daily shared reading was strongly associated with child Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores in unadjusted (B = 7.9; 95% CI, 4.3-11.4) and adjusted models (B = 5.3; 95% CI, 2.0-8.6). The association differed based on the presence of sensitizing alleles in the dopamine receptor 2 and serotonin transporter genes. CONCLUSIONS Among urban children, shared reading at age 1 years was associated with greater vocabulary at age 3 years. Although children with sensitizing alleles on the dopamine receptor 2 and serotonin transporter genes were at greater risk when not read to, they fared as well as children without these alleles when shared reading occurred.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel E Jimenez
- The Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ; Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ; Child Health Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ; Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ; Children's Specialized Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ.
| | - Nancy E Reichman
- The Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ; Child Health Institute of New Jersey, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
| | - Colter Mitchell
- Survey Research Center and the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | | | | | - Daniel A Notterman
- The Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
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Bachler E, Frühmann A, Bachler H, Aas B, Nickel M, Schiepek GK. The Effect of Childhood Adversities and Protective Factors on the Development of Child-Psychiatric Disorders and Their Treatment. Front Psychol 2018; 9:2226. [PMID: 30524336 PMCID: PMC6262315 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2017] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Context: Families with high rates of childhood adversities (CAs) (multi problem families, MPF) have an increasing importance in public health-policy. Objective: The present study addresses the relationship between risk- and protective factors and the severity and treatment-outcome of mental disorders. Setting: Family-therapeutic home-based treatment for MPF. We examined a clinical sample (N = 1031) of children between the age of 4 to 17, and a non-clinical sample of 148 children. We hypothesized that of all children of the clinical group have a predominance of risk factors and a higher number of psychopathological symptoms. Furthermore, we hypothesized that children with a predominance of protective factors benefit stronger from psychotherapy. Main Results: In the clinical sample, most children met the criteria of a psychopathological diagnosis (95.7%, as compared to 21.6% in the non-clinical sample) and showed significant higher rates of CAs and significant less protective factors as compared to the non-clinical sample. The clinical group showed a significant reduction of psychopathological symptoms and benefited equally well from treatment. The number of risk factors was a significant predictor for a child from the non-clinical sample to meet the criteria of a psychopathological diagnosis, while the number of protective factors significantly predicted the absence thereof. Conclusion: Children and adolescents with high scores of CAs show significant associations with child psychiatric symptoms (d = 0.35; including all ICD-diagnosis such as, e.g., Asperger Syndrome, ADHD etc. with a higher rate of genetic etiology). Early life stressors, however, do not trigger an irreversible fate, as psychotherapy with young people with high numbers of risk factors does help to reduce psychopathological symptoms significantly (range of five outcome parameters: d = 0.31-0.72).
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Affiliation(s)
- Egon Bachler
- Institute for Synergetics and Psychotherapy Research, Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität, Salzburg, Austria
| | | | - Herbert Bachler
- General Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Benjamin Aas
- Institute for Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Marius Nickel
- Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Guenter Karl Schiepek
- Institute for Synergetics and Psychotherapy Research, Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität, Salzburg, Austria
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Moorman SM, Carr K, Greenfield EA. Childhood socioeconomic status and genetic risk for poorer cognition in later life. Soc Sci Med 2018; 212:219-226. [PMID: 30048844 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Revised: 07/13/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The ε4 allele of the APOE gene is associated with poorer cognition in later life. This study aimed to advance understanding of how environments potentially moderate this genetic risk by focusing on childhood socioeconomic status (SES). Previous research across diverse national contexts has found that older adults from higher-SES families in childhood demonstrate better cognitive functioning than their lower-SES counterparts. Nevertheless, few studies have examined whether higher childhood SES might also promote later life cognition by mitigating the effects of ε4 carrier status. To address this gap, we used data from 3017 participants in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which has followed a random sample of people who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. Childhood SES included parents' educational attainment, father's occupational status, and household income in adolescence. We constructed measures of memory and of language/executive functioning using scores from neurocognitive tests administered when participants were approximately ages 65 and 72. APOE ε4 status was measured through saliva samples. Results from cross-controlled multilevel models indicated that APOE ε4 status-and not childhood SES-independently predicted memory, whereas childhood SES-and not APOE ε4 status-independently predicted language/executive functioning. Moreover, a statistical interaction between APOE ε4 status and childhood SES for memory indicated that at baseline, higher childhood SES protected against the risk of APOE ε4 status, whereas lower childhood SES exacerbated the risk of APOE ε4 status. However, by follow-up, these moderating effects dissipated, and APOE ε4 status alone was associated with memory. We interpret these results in light of theorizing on differential susceptibility for poorer cognition across the life course.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kyle Carr
- Department of Sociology, Boston College, United States
| | - Emily A Greenfield
- School of Social Work Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, United States
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Goosby BJ, Cheadle JE, Mitchell C. Stress-Related Biosocial Mechanisms of Discrimination and African American Health Inequities. ANNUAL REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY 2018; 44:319-340. [PMID: 38078066 PMCID: PMC10704394 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-soc-060116-053403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
This review describes stress-related biological mechanisms linking interpersonal racism to life course health trajectories among African Americans. Interpersonal racism, a form of social exclusion enacted via discrimination, remains a salient issue in the lives of African Americans, and it triggers a cascade of biological processes originating as perceived social exclusion and registering as social pain. Exposure to discrimination increases sympathetic nervous system activation and upregulates the HPA axis, increasing physiological wear and tear and elevating the risks of cardiometabolic conditions. Consequently, discrimination is associated with morbidities including low birth weight, hypertension, abdominal obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Biological measures can provide important analytic tools to study the interactions between social experiences such as racial discrimination and health outcomes over the life course. We make future recommendations for the study of discrimination and health outcomes, including the integration of neuroscience, genomics, and new health technologies; interdisciplinary engagement; and the diversification of scholars engaged in biosocial inequities research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bridget J Goosby
- Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA
| | - Jacob E Cheadle
- Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA
| | - Colter Mitchell
- Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104, USA
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Holt-Lunstad J. Why Social Relationships Are Important for Physical Health: A Systems Approach to Understanding and Modifying Risk and Protection. Annu Rev Psychol 2018; 69:437-458. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 296] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Julianne Holt-Lunstad
- Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602
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Mitchell C, McLanahan S, Schneper L, Garfinkel I, Brooks-Gunn J, Notterman D. Father Loss and Child Telomere Length. Pediatrics 2017; 140:peds.2016-3245. [PMID: 28716823 PMCID: PMC5527665 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-3245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Father loss during childhood has negative health and behavioral consequences, but the biological consequences are unknown. Our goal was to examine how father loss (because of separation and/or divorce, death, or incarceration) is associated with cellular function as estimated by telomere length. METHODS Data come from the 9-year follow-up of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study of children in 20 large American cities (N = 2420). Principal measures are as follows: salivary telomere length (sTL), mother reports of father loss, and polymorphisms in genes related to serotonergic and dopaminergic signaling. RESULTS At 9 years of age, children with father loss have significantly shorter telomeres (14% reduction). Paternal death has the largest association (16%), followed by incarceration (10%), and separation and/or divorce (6%). Changes in income partially mediate these associations (95% mediation for separation and/or divorce, 30% for incarceration, and 25% for death). Effects are 40% greater for boys and 90% greater for children with the most reactive alleles of the serotonin transporter genes when compared with those with the least reactive alleles. No differences were found by age at father loss or a child's race/ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS Father loss has a significant association with children's sTL, with the death of a father showing the largest effect. Income loss explains most of the association between child sTL and separation and/or divorce but much less of the association with incarceration or death. This underscores the important role of fathers in the care and development of children and supplements evidence of the strong negative effects of parental incarceration.
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Janssens A, Van Den Noortgate W, Goossens L, Colpin H, Verschueren K, Claes S, Van Leeuwen K. Externalizing Problem Behavior in Adolescence: Parenting Interacting With DAT1 and DRD4 Genes. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE 2017; 27:278-297. [PMID: 28876518 DOI: 10.1111/jora.12271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
This study extends previous gene-by-environment (G × E) research through design and methodological advances and examines alternative hypotheses of diathesis stress, vantage sensitivity, and differential susceptibility. In a sample of 984 adolescents and their parents, we examined whether effects of parental support, proactive, punitive, harsh punitive, and psychological control on externalizing problem behavior are moderated by adolescents' genotype for the dopamine transporter (DAT1) or receptor D4 (DRD4) gene. Results provided evidence for main effects of parenting behavior and DRD4, and multiple interaction effects of which one survived Bonferroni correction. Adolescents carrying a long DRD4 variant were more susceptible to the effects of parental proactive control on aggression, for better and for worse. Critical considerations were made regarding the complexity of G × E research.
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17
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Coley RL, Sims J, Carrano J. Environmental risks outweigh dopaminergic genetic risks for alcohol use and abuse from adolescence through early adulthood. Drug Alcohol Depend 2017; 175:106-118. [PMID: 28412301 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.01.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2016] [Revised: 12/16/2016] [Accepted: 01/24/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alcohol use is a primary public health concern, particularly among adolescents and young adults. Based on the rapidly growing field of gene-environment models, this study assessed the combined role of environmental and dopamine-related genetic correlates of early alcohol use and abuse. METHODS Multilevel growth models assessed trajectories of alcohol use and intoxication and ordered logistic regressions assessed alcohol use disorder among a sample of 12,437 youth from the nationally representative Add Health study who were followed from mid-adolescence through early adulthood. RESULTS Endogenous and exogenous stressful life events and social norms supportive of alcohol use from parents and peers were significant predictors of alcohol use, intoxication, and alcohol use disorder, with consistent patterns across males and females. In contrast, a dopamine-system genetic risk score (GRS) was not associated with alcohol use trajectories nor alcohol use disorder in early adulthood, although weak connections emerged between the GRS and growth trajectories of intoxication, indicating that higher GRS predicted more frequent episodes of intoxication during the transition to adulthood but not during adolescence or later 20s. No evidence of gene-environment interactions emerged. CONCLUSIONS Results extend a substantial body of prior research primarily assessing single genetic polymorphisms in the dopamine system, suggesting that dopaminergic GRSs may be associated with more problematic alcohol behaviors at some developmental periods, but further, that social norms and stressful life experiences are more consistent correlates of early and problematic alcohol use among youth. These environmental factors present potential targets for research manipulating contexts to identify causal pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebekah Levine Coley
- Boston College, Lynch School of Education, Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, United States.
| | - Jacqueline Sims
- Boston College, Lynch School of Education, Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, United States
| | - Jennifer Carrano
- University of Delaware, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, United States
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18
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Liu H, Guo G. Opportunities and challenges of big data for the social sciences: The case of genomic data. SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 2016; 59:13-22. [PMID: 27480368 PMCID: PMC5480284 DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.04.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2015] [Revised: 04/08/2016] [Accepted: 04/13/2016] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, we draw attention to one unique and valuable source of big data, genomic data, by demonstrating the opportunities they provide to social scientists. We discuss different types of large-scale genomic data and recent advances in statistical methods and computational infrastructure used to address challenges in managing and analyzing such data. We highlight how these data and methods can be used to benefit social science research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hexuan Liu
- Department of Sociology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA; Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA; School of Criminal Justice, The University of Cincinnati, USA.
| | - Guang Guo
- Department of Sociology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA; Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA; Carolina Population Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
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19
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McBride CM, Koehly LM. Imagining roles for epigenetics in health promotion research. J Behav Med 2016; 40:229-238. [PMID: 27412775 PMCID: PMC5332486 DOI: 10.1007/s10865-016-9764-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2016] [Accepted: 07/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Discoveries from the Human Genome Project have invigorated discussions of epigenetic effects-modifiable chemical processes that influence DNA's ability to give instructions to turn gene expression on or off-on health outcomes. We suggest three domains in which new understandings of epigenetics could inform innovations in health promotion research: (1) increase the motivational potency of health communications (e.g., explaining individual differences in health outcomes to interrupt optimistic biases about health exposures); (2) illuminate new approaches to targeted and tailored health promotion interventions (e.g., relapse prevention targeted to epigenetic responses to intervention participation); and (3) inform more sensitive measures of intervention impact, (e.g., replace or augment self-reported adherence). We suggest a three-step process for using epigenetics in health promotion research that emphasizes integrating epigenetic mechanisms into conceptual model development that then informs selection of intervention approaches and outcomes. Lastly, we pose examples of relevant scientific questions worth exploring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colleen M McBride
- Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd. NE, GCR 564, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
| | - Laura M Koehly
- National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Perry BL. Gendering Genetics: Biological Contingencies in the Protective Effects of Social Integration for Men and Women. AJS; AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY 2016; 121:1655-1696. [PMID: 27416652 DOI: 10.1086/685486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Evidence that social and biological processes are intertwined in producing health and human behavior is rapidly accumulating. Using a feminist approach, this research explores how gender moderates the interaction between biological processes and men's and women's behavioral and emotional responses to similar social environments. Using data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism, the influence of gender, social integration, and genetic risk on nicotine and alcohol dependence is examined. Three-way interaction models reveal gender-specific moderation of interactions between genetic risk score and social integration. Namely, being currently married and reporting positive social psychological integration are predictive of reduced risk of nicotine dependence among men with genetic susceptibility to strong nicotine cravings in the presence of social cues like stress. In contrast, the protective effects of marital status and social integration are substantially attenuated and absent, respectively, among women with high-risk genotypes. This pattern reflects the dualism (i.e., simultaneous costs and benefits) inherent in social integration for women, which may disproportionately affect those with a genetic sensitivity to stress. These findings contest the notion of genotype as static biological hardwiring that is independent from social and cultural systems of gender difference.
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21
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Opening the Social: Sociological Imagination in Life Course Studies. HANDBOOKS OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-20880-0_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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Faul JD, Mitchell CM, Smith JA, Zhao W. Estimating Telomere Length Heritability in an Unrelated Sample of Adults: Is Heritability of Telomere Length Modified by Life Course Socioeconomic Status? BIODEMOGRAPHY AND SOCIAL BIOLOGY 2016; 62:73-86. [PMID: 27050034 PMCID: PMC5117361 DOI: 10.1080/19485565.2015.1120645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Telomere length (TL) is a widely used marker of biological aging and is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Recently, there has been evidence for an association between TL and socioeconomic status (SES), particularly for measures of education and childhood SES. Individual differences in TL are also influenced by genetic factors, with heritability estimates from twin and sibling studies ranging from 34 to 82 percent. Yet the additive heritability of TL as a result of measured genetic variations and the extent to which heritability is modified by SES is still unknown. Data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative cohort of older adults (mean age 69 years), were used to provide the first estimates of molecular-based heritability of TL using genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA). We found that additive genetic variance contributed 28 percent (p = .012) of total phenotypic variance of TL in the European American sample (n = 3,290). Estimation using the GCTA and KING Robust relationship inference methods did not differ significantly in this sample. None of the variance from the gene-by-SES interactions examined contributed significantly to the total TL variance. Estimation of heritability and genetic interaction with SES in the African American sample (n = 442) was too unstable to provide reliable estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica D Faul
- a Survey Research Center , Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan , USA
| | - Colter M Mitchell
- a Survey Research Center , Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan , USA
| | - Jennifer A Smith
- b School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan , USA
| | - Wei Zhao
- b School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology , University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , Michigan , USA
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Guo G, Li Y, Wang H, Cai T, Duncan G. Peer Influence, Genetic Propensity, and Binge Drinking: A Natural Experiment and a Replication. AJS; AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY 2015; 121:914-54. [PMID: 26900620 PMCID: PMC6650272 DOI: 10.1086/683224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The authors draw data from the College Roommate Study (ROOM) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to investigate gene-environment interaction effects on youth binge drinking. In ROOM, the environmental influence was measured by the precollege drinking behavior of randomly assigned roommates. Random assignment safeguards against friend selection and removes the threat of gene-environment correlation that makes gene-environment interaction effects difficult to interpret. On average, being randomly assigned a drinking peer as opposed to a nondrinking peer increased college binge drinking by 0.5-1.0 episodes per month, or 20%-40% the average amount of binge drinking. However, this peer influence was found only among youths with a medium level of genetic propensity for alcohol use; those with either a low or high genetic propensity were not influenced by peer drinking. A replication of the findings is provided in data drawn from Add Health. The study shows that gene-environment interaction analysis can uncover social-contextual effects likely to be missed by traditional sociological approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guang Guo
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599
- Carolina Center for Genomic Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Yi Li
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Hongyu Wang
- Department of Sociology, University of Macau, Av. Padre Tomás Pereira, Taipa, Macau
| | - Tianji Cai
- Department of Sociology, University of Macau, Av. Padre Tomás Pereira, Taipa, Macau
| | - Greg Duncan
- Department of Education, University of California, Irvine 2001 Berkeley Place Irvine, CA 92697-5500
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Conley D, Domingue BW, Cesarini D, Dawes C, Rietveld CA, Boardman JD. Is the Effect of Parental Education on Offspring Biased or Moderated by Genotype? SOCIOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2015; 2:82-105. [PMID: 29051911 PMCID: PMC5644503 DOI: 10.15195/v2.a6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Parental education is the strongest measured predictor of offspring education, and thus many scholars see the parent-child correlation in educational attainment as an important measure of social mobility. But if social changes or policy interventions are going to have dynastic effects, we need to know what accounts for this intergenerational association, that is, whether it is primarily environmental or genetic in origin. Thus, to understand whether the estimated social influence of parental education on offspring education is biased owing to genetic inheritance (or moderated by it), we exploit the findings from a recent large genome-wide association study of educational attainment to construct a genetic score designed to predict educational attainment. Using data from two independent samples, we find that our genetic score significantly predicts years of schooling in both between-family and within-family analyses. We report three findings that should be of interest to scholars in the stratification and education fields. First, raw parent-child correlations in education may reflect one-sixth genetic transmission and five-sixths social inheritance. Second, conditional on a child's genetic score, a parental genetic score has no statistically significant relationship to the child's educational attainment. Third, the effects of offspring genotype do not seem to be moderated by measured sociodemographic variables at the parental level (but parent-child genetic interaction effects are significant). These results are consistent with the existence of two separate systems of ascription: genetic inheritance (a random lottery within families) and social inheritance (across-family ascription). We caution, however, that at the presently attainable levels of explanatory power, these results are preliminary and may change when better-powered genetic risk scores are developed.
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Mitchell C, McLanahan S, Hobcraft J, Brooks-Gunn J, Garfinkel I, Notterman D. Family structure instability, genetic sensitivity, and child well-being. AJS; AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY 2015; 120:1195-225. [PMID: 26046228 PMCID: PMC5033051 DOI: 10.1086/680681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The association between family structure instability and children's life chances is well documented, with children reared in stable, two-parent families experiencing more favorable outcomes than children in other family arrangements. This study examines father household entrances and exits, distinguishing between the entrance of a biological father and a social father and testing for interactions between family structure instability and children's age, gender, and genetic characteristics. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study and focusing on changes in family structure by age (years 0-9), the authors show that father exits are associated with increases in children's antisocial behavior, a strong predictor of health and well-being in adulthood. The pattern for father entrances is more complicated, with entrances for the biological father being associated with lower antisocial behavior among boys and social father entrances being associated with higher antisocial behavior. Child's age does not moderate the association; however, genetic information in the models sharpens the findings substantially.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colter Mitchell
- Survey Research Center and the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan
| | - Sara McLanahan
- Center for Research on Child Wellbeing and Office of Population Research, Princeton
| | - John Hobcraft
- Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York
| | - Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
- Teachers College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University
| | | | - Daniel Notterman
- College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University and Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University
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Wiggins JL, Mitchell C, Stringaris A, Leibenluft E. Developmental trajectories of irritability and bidirectional associations with maternal depression. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2014; 53:1191-205, 1205.e1-4. [PMID: 25440309 PMCID: PMC4254549 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2014.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2014] [Revised: 08/13/2014] [Accepted: 08/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Irritability is a dimensional trait in typical development and a common presenting symptom in many psychiatric disorders, including depression. However, little is known about the developmental trajectory of irritability or how child irritability interacts with maternal depression. The present study identifies classes of irritability trajectories from toddlerhood to middle childhood; characterizes maternal depression and other family, social environment, and child variables within each irritability trajectory class; and, as a more exploratory analysis, examines bidirectional associations between maternal depression and child irritability. METHOD A total of 4,898 families from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study reported on irritability symptoms at ages 3, 5, and 9 years, assessed with items from the Child Behavior Checklist. Parental major depressive episode was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form at child ages 1, 3, 5, and 9 years. RESULTS A latent class growth analysis identified 5 irritability classes: low decreasing; moderate decreasing; high steady; initially very high, then decreasing; and high increasing. Children with more severe irritability trajectories are more likely to have mothers with recurrent depression, and, with the exception of the most severe (high increasing irritability) class, were more likely to have mothers who were exposed to violence. Moreover, paternal depression and alcohol abuse, as well as maternal drug and alcohol abuse, were also risk factors for membership in the more severe irritability classes. A latent auto-regressive cross-lag model showed that child irritability at ages 3 and 5 years is associated with increased mother depression at ages 5 and 9, respectively. Conversely, mother depression at child ages 1 and 3 years is associated with increased child irritability at 3 and 5. CONCLUSION Irritability development across toddlerhood and middle childhood has 5 main trajectory types, which differ on maternal depression recurrence and exposure to violence. Maternal depression and child irritability influence each other bidirectionally, particularly early in development. Understanding irritability development and its bidirectional relationship with maternal depression and association with violence exposure may help identify intervention targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jillian Lee Wiggins
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Emotion and Development Branch, Section on Bipolar Spectrum Disorders, Bethesda, MD.
| | - Colter Mitchell
- Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | | | - Ellen Leibenluft
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Emotion and Development Branch, Section on Bipolar Spectrum Disorders, Bethesda, MD
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Mitchell C, Hobcraft J, McLanahan SS, Siegel SR, Berg A, Brooks-Gunn J, Garfinkel I, Notterman D. Social disadvantage, genetic sensitivity, and children's telomere length. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014. [PMID: 24711381 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.140429311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Disadvantaged social environments are associated with adverse health outcomes. This has been attributed, in part, to chronic stress. Telomere length (TL) has been used as a biomarker of chronic stress: TL is shorter in adults in a variety of contexts, including disadvantaged social standing and depression. We use data from 40, 9-y-old boys participating in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to extend this observation to African American children. We report that exposure to disadvantaged environments is associated with reduced TL by age 9 y. We document significant associations between low income, low maternal education, unstable family structure, and harsh parenting and TL. These effects were moderated by genetic variants in serotonergic and dopaminergic pathways. Consistent with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, subjects with the highest genetic sensitivity scores had the shortest TL when exposed to disadvantaged social environments and the longest TL when exposed to advantaged environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colter Mitchell
- Survey Research Center and Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
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Abstract
Disadvantaged social environments are associated with adverse health outcomes. This has been attributed, in part, to chronic stress. Telomere length (TL) has been used as a biomarker of chronic stress: TL is shorter in adults in a variety of contexts, including disadvantaged social standing and depression. We use data from 40, 9-y-old boys participating in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to extend this observation to African American children. We report that exposure to disadvantaged environments is associated with reduced TL by age 9 y. We document significant associations between low income, low maternal education, unstable family structure, and harsh parenting and TL. These effects were moderated by genetic variants in serotonergic and dopaminergic pathways. Consistent with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, subjects with the highest genetic sensitivity scores had the shortest TL when exposed to disadvantaged social environments and the longest TL when exposed to advantaged environments.
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Abstract
The last decades of neuroscience research have produced immense progress in the methods available to understand brain structure and function. Social, cognitive, clinical, affective, economic, communication, and developmental neurosciences have begun to map the relationships between neuro-psychological processes and behavioral outcomes, yielding a new understanding of human behavior and promising interventions. However, a limitation of this fast moving research is that most findings are based on small samples of convenience. Furthermore, our understanding of individual differences may be distorted by unrepresentative samples, undermining findings regarding brain-behavior mechanisms. These limitations are issues that social demographers, epidemiologists, and other population scientists have tackled, with solutions that can be applied to neuroscience. By contrast, nearly all social science disciplines, including social demography, sociology, political science, economics, communication science, and psychology, make assumptions about processes that involve the brain, but have incorporated neural measures to differing, and often limited, degrees; many still treat the brain as a black box. In this article, we describe and promote a perspective--population neuroscience--that leverages interdisciplinary expertise to (i) emphasize the importance of sampling to more clearly define the relevant populations and sampling strategies needed when using neuroscience methods to address such questions; and (ii) deepen understanding of mechanisms within population science by providing insight regarding underlying neural mechanisms. Doing so will increase our confidence in the generalizability of the findings. We provide examples to illustrate the population neuroscience approach for specific types of research questions and discuss the potential for theoretical and applied advances from this approach across areas.
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