Original article
Building Conditions, 5-HTTLPR Genotype, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Males and Females

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.01.013Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

Emerging work suggests that both environmental and genetic factors contribute to risk of depression in adolescents, and that these factors may differ between genders. We assessed whether features of the social environment (SE), measured at varying levels, and genetic factors jointly contribute to the risk of depression in adolescent males and females.

Methods

Using data from a national survey of U.S. adolescents, we applied cross-sectional, multilevel mixed models to assess the contribution of: (i) 5-HTTLPR genotype and respondent-level building conditions to depressive symptom score (DSS); and (ii) 5-HTTLPR genotype and neighborhood-level building conditions to DSS. Models testing potential gene-SE interactions were also conducted. All models were stratified by gender and adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, family structure, parental education, and social support.

Results

Among females, adjusted analyses indicated that sl genotype carriers enjoyed a marginally significant (p = .07) protective effect against higher DSS in models assessing respondent-level building conditions. In contrast, among males, adjusted analyses predicted significantly higher DSS for residents of neighborhoods with relatively poor building conditions (p < .01). No significant gene-SE interactions were detected for either gender.

Conclusions

These results suggest that adverse, macro-level SE factors increase risk of depression to a greater extent in adolescent males than in females. Intervention strategies designed to improve mental health in adolescent populations should consider a growing body of work suggesting that the contextual factors conferring increased risk of depression differ among males and females.

Section snippets

Sample

Data for our analysis come from the wave I in-home subsample (N = 20,745) of respondents from Add Health. Add Health is a nationally representative, school-based sample of U.S. adolescents initially sampled in 1994–1995 and in three subsequent follow-up waves. DNA samples were collected from a subsample of siblings (n = 2,574) participating in the in-home questionnaire in 2002 as a part of wave III. The in-home and genetic data are part of the restricted use/contractual Add Health dataset [28]

Respondent-level building conditions

Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics and unadjusted associations for the individual-, family-, and building-level predictors included in our final model based on respondents' building condition. The average age in both our male (n = 510) and female (n = 574) samples was approximately 16 years (range: 12–19 years, males; 12–20 years, females). The average DSS was significantly higher in female (11.1) than in male (9.4) adolescents (p < .0001). The male and female analytical samples did

Discussion

Our work sought to assess the combined and interacting effects of environmental and genetic features on adolescent depression at multiple levels, controlling for several factors previously associated with depression in this population. Respondent-level building analyses provided evidence for increased DSS among adolescent males and females residing in buildings with relatively poor upkeep in unadjusted, but not adjusted, results. In addition, these analyses provided some evidence for genetic

Acknowledgments

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to

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