Depression in middle childhood: secure base script as a cognitive diathesis in the relationship between daily stress and depressive symptoms.

A better understanding of protective factors against childhood depression may allow for the mitigation of severe and chronic symptoms and the timely implementation of intervention strategies. This study investigated the protective effect of having a secure base script on depressive symptoms when children face daily stressors. To test this hypothesis, moderation analyses were performed in a cross-sectional study with 378 children (48.5% boys, 51.5%) aged 8-12 years (M = 10.20; SD = 0.57). The results provided some support for the moderation effect when secure base script knowledge was investigated as a categorical variable in middle childhood. However, the results did not support the moderation effect when investigating secure base script as a continuous variable. Therefore, future investigations may need to address whether a categorical approach could better elucidate the protective role of secure base script knowledge in childhood depression.

Parental support and insecure attachment development: the cortisol stress response as a moderator.

The current study investigated whether variations at the level of the cortisol stress response moderate the association between parental support and attachment development. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a one-year longitudinal study with two waves in which 101 children (56% girls, Mage = 11.15, SDage = 0.70) participated. Attachment anxiety and avoidance were measured at baseline (Wave 1) and one year later (Wave 2). Parental support and children's cortisol stress response during the Trier Social Stress Test were measured at Wave 2. Children's cortisol stress response was found to moderate the association between parental support and relative change in anxious attachment. A strong cortisol stress response weakened the associated between parental support and relative change in anxious attachment. No moderation effects were found for relative change in avoidant attachment.

Delayed affective recovery to daily-life stressors signals a risk for depression.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the time to affective recovery from daily-life stressors between healthy controls (HC) and two groups with an increased risk for developing depression: individuals with subclinical symptoms of depression (SSD), and individuals remitted from a depressive episode with residual symptoms of depression (RRS). METHOD: The experience sampling method (ESM) was used to measure affective recovery to daily-life stressors. Affective recovery was defined as the moment that negative affect (NA) returned to baseline level following the first stressful event of the day. We assessed two different operationalizations of the baseline: NA at the moment before the stressful event (t-1), and mean-person NA. The effect of stress intensity, and cumulative stress were also assessed. RESULTS: Survival analyses showed significantly longer recovery times for the at risk groups in comparison to healthy individuals, albeit no significant difference was found between the two at risk groups (i.e. SSD and RRS). There was also an effect of cumulative stress, but not stress intensity on time to recovery in that cumulative stress resulted in significantly longer recovery times for all three groups. LIMITATIONS: The present study is limited by the ESM sampling design, assessments take place post-stress and therefore do not capture peak stress. Additionally, we are only able to assess patterns at the group level. Finally, there is a significant age difference between groups. CONCLUSION: Individuals at risk for depression display a delayed recovery to daily-life stressors when compared to healthy controls, which is not explained by differences in stress intensity or cumulative stress. Understanding what is driving this delay may help combat the development of depression.

Subtyping youngsters with obesity: A theory-based cluster analysis.

Psychological mechanisms play a crucial role in explaining weight gain. Aim of the present study was to identify subtypes in youngsters with obesity in line with these mechanisms. Defining homogeneous clusters within this heterogeneous group provides relevant information for personalized treatments. Data were collected in N = 572 participants (51% boys, aged 7-19) with extreme obesity (%BMI M = 187.8; SD = 30.9) recruited in an inpatient treatment centre. Based on psychological models of overweight/obesity, the Affect Regulation Model, the Reward Deficiency Model and The Dual Pathway Model, cluster variables were selected assessing emotional eating, reward reactivity and regulative capacities. Youngsters reported on emotional eating (DEBQ Emotional Eating) and reward sensitivity (BAS), while parents reported on children's regulative Executive Functions (BRIEF). Characteristics of the different clusters were examined concerning weight variables (pre and post treatment) and variables indexing problematic eating (DEBQ External Eating, Ch-EDE), affect regulation (FEEL-KJ) and depressive symptoms (CDI). Hierarchical cluster analyses supported the presence of three clusters, further evaluated by K-means cluster analyses. The cluster solutions differed according to age and sex (boys 7-13, boys 14-19, girls 7-13, girls 14-19). In all four age and gender subsamples, an "Emotional Eating" cluster displaying a vulnerable profile (high depression, maladaptive emotion regulation, problematic eating) and a "Reward Deficiency" cluster displaying a more resilient profile were detected. In girls 7-13, a "Weak Executive Functioning" indicative of insufficient self-regulative capacities, showed moderate to high emotional problems and problematic eating. In the other subgroups, the "Mean Level Functioning" cluster also showed elevated emotional problems and problematic eating. Given that different clusters can be identified, and given that these clusters have different profiles on emotional problems and problematic eating, subtyping youngsters with severe obesity is indicated, setting the stage for personalized treatments.

Severe autonomic nervous system imbalance in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome patients demonstrated by heart rate variability recordings.

OBJECTIVE: Patients diagnosed with Lennox Gastaut syndrome (LGS), an epileptic encephalopathy characterized by usually drug resistant generalized and focal seizures, are often considered as candidates for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). Recent research shows that heart rate variability (HRV) differs in epilepsy patients and is related to VNS treatment response. This study investigated pre-ictal HRV in generalized onset seizures of patients with LGS in correlation with their VNS response. METHODS: In drug resistant epilepsy (DRE) patients diagnosed with LGS video-electroencephalography recording was performed during their pre-surgical evaluation. Six HRV parameters (time and-, frequency domain, non-linear parameters) were evaluated for every seizure in epochs of 10 min at baseline (60 to 50 min before seizure onset) and pre-ictally (10 min prior to seizure onset). The results were correlated to VNS response after one year of VNS therapy. RESULTS: Seven patients and 31 seizures were included, two patients were classified as VNS responders (≥ 50 % seizure reduction). No difference in pre-ictal HRV parameters between VNS responders and VNS non-responders could be found, but high frequency (HF) power, reflecting the parasympathetic tone increased significantly in the pre-ictal epoch in both VNS responders and VNS non-responders (p = 0.017, p = 0.004). SIGNIFICANCE: In this pilot data pre-ictal HRV did not differ in VNS responders compared to VNS non-responders, but showed a significant increase in HF power - a parasympathetic overdrive - in both VNS responders and VNS non-responders. This sudden autonomic imbalance might have an influence on the cardiovascular system in the ictal period. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures are regarded as the main risk factor for SUDEP and severe seizure-induced autonomic imbalance may play a role in the pathophysiological pathway.

The link between parental psychological control, depressive symptoms and epigenetic changes in the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1).

AIMS: This paper examines the relationship between parental Psychological Control (PC) and depressive symptoms in adolescents and assesses whether this relationship was mediated by DNA methylation, focusing on the glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1), which plays a crucial role in HPA-axis functioning and is linked to environmental stress and depression. This is among the very few studies that looked at the relation between DNA methylation, environmental stress and depression in family trios. METHODS: The study cohort consisted of 250 families: father, mother and a biologically related adolescent (adolescents (48.9% boys), mean age: 15.14, SD= 1.9; mean age mothers: 45.83, SD= 4.2; mean age fathers: 47.77, SD= 4.7). Depressive symptoms and PC were measured in adolescents and in both parents. DNA methylation levels in NR3C1 were examined in all participants. RESULTS: Depressive symptoms in adolescents were predicted by PC of both mothers and fathers. Moreover, maternal depressive symptoms were associated with maternal PC, and fathers' depressive symptoms and PC. In fathers, only the level of their self-reported PC was associated with their depressive symptoms. There was no relation between adolescents' DNA methylation and depressive symptoms or the level of parental PC. Yet, there was a significant association between maternal depressive symptoms and maternal epigenetic patterns in NR3C1. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the need for more research in order to better understand the biological and contextual mechanisms through which parenting and parental emotional well-being is related to the development of psychopathology.

Neurophysiological investigations of drug resistant epilepsy patients treated with vagus nerve stimulation to differentiate responders from non-responders.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In patients treated with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for drug resistant epilepsy (DRE), up to a third of patients will eventually not respond to the therapy. As VNS therapy requires surgery for device implantation, prediction of response prior to surgery is desirable. It is hypothesized that neurophysiological investigations related to the mechanisms of action of VNS may help to differentiate VNS responders from non-responders prior to the initiation of therapy. METHODS: In a prospective series of DRE patients, polysomnography, heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive event related potentials were recorded. Polysomnography and HRV were repeated after 1 year of treatment with VNS. Polysomnography, HRV and cognitive event related potentials were compared between VNS responders (≥50% reduction in seizure frequency) and non-responders. RESULTS: Fifteen out of 30 patients became VNS responders after 1 year of VNS treatment. Prior to treatment with VNS, the amount of deep sleep (NREM 3), the HRV high frequency (HF) power and the P3b amplitude were significantly different in responders compared to non-responders (P = 0.007; P = 0.001; P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Three neurophysiological parameters, NREM 3, HRV HF and P3b amplitude, were found to be significantly different in DRE patients who became responders to VNS treatment prior to initiation of their treatment with VNS. These non-invasive recordings may be used as characteristics for response in future studies and help avoid unsuccessful implantations. Mechanistically these findings may be related to changes in brain regions involved in the so-called vagal afferent network.

The long-term effect and adherence of a low fermentable oligosaccharides disaccharides monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAP) diet in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Short-term trials with a low-FODMAP (fermentable oligosaccharides disaccharides monosaccharides and polyols) diet (LFD) show promising results in the symptomatic management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The present study investigated the long-term adherence to an LFD diet, factors associated with adherence, and associations between LFD and quality of life (QOL), IBS symptoms and disease course on a long-term basis. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. Two hundred and thirty-four patients were enrolled from Ghent University hospital. Health-related QOL, long-term adherence to the LFD, disease course and IBS symptoms were assessed using a validated and self-developed questionnaire. RESULTS: Ninety (38.5%) patients completed the questionnaires. The median time span between the first dietary consultation and completion of the questionnaires was 99.5 weeks (approaching 2 years). The predominant disease course was mild IBS with an indolent course (43.0%). Eighty percent reported still following a diet in which certain FODMAP-rich food types are avoided. Eighty patients (88.9%) were satisfied that they follow or had followed the diet. The IBS-QOL did not differ between patients following the diet strictly and patients deviating from the diet (P = 0.669). Patients still following the LFD experienced less severe abdominal pain than patients who stopped following the diet (P = 0.044). CONCLUSIONS: The long-term adherence and satisfaction with the LFD is high in patients with IBS. Nevertheless, patients indicated that it was difficult to follow the LFD in daily life. Practical issues, social factors and the absence of symptoms were indicated as the main reasons for a drop in adherence.

Parenting, Effortful Control, and Adolescents' Externalizing Problem Behavior: Moderation by Dopaminergic Genes.

Research shows that genetics and effortful control play an important role in the link between parenting and problem behavior. However, little is known about how these factors act simultaneously. This article used a moderated mediation model to examine whether effortful control mediated the link between parenting and externalizing problem behavior, and whether dopaminergic genes (i.e., polygenic index score including DAT1, DRD2, DRD4, COMT) moderated this link. Two three-wave studies were conducted on community samples (adolescents: Study 1: N = 457; Mage = 15.74; Study 2: N = 221; Mage = 12.84). There was no mediation by effortful control, but a moderation by dopaminergic reactivity was observed. Despite inconsistent evidence, this article indicates that the development of externalizing problem behavior is subject to genetic characteristics and parenting.

Genetic Contributions to Loneliness and Their Relevance to the Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness.

Loneliness is a negative and distressing emotional state that arises from a discrepancy between one's desired and achieved levels of social connectedness. The evolutionary theory of loneliness (ETL) posits that experiencing loneliness is an inherited adaptation that signals that salutary social relations are endangered or damaged and prompts people to reconnect to significant others. The basic tenets of the ETL has led researchers to examine the genetic underpinnings of loneliness. The current review provides an updated overview of genetic studies on loneliness and discusses the importance of genetic research for the ETL. The most recent studies suggest that the many genes that contribute to a small degree to differences in loneliness partially overlap with genes that contribute to neuroticism, but not with depression. In addition, the genetic studies discussed in this review show that genes are unlikely to have a direct effect on loneliness. Instead, environmental factors determine in a dynamic fashion how genes that contribute to loneliness are expressed. Future research on epigenetic processes, such as DNA methylation, can further elucidate the dynamic interplay between genes and the environment and how this interplay contributes to loneliness.

Understanding Dutch practice nurses' adherence to evidence-based smoking cessation guidelines and their needs for web-based adherence support: results from semistructured interviews.

OBJECTIVES: Practice nurses in general practices suboptimally adhere to smoking cessation guidelines. Since the effectiveness of their smoking cessation support is greatest when full adherence to these guidelines is achieved, interventions need to be developed to improve practice nurses' guideline adherence, for example, by tailoring their content to adherence determinants. However, the sociocognitive determinants explaining adherence have not yet been investigated. Therefore, this qualitative needs assessment aimed to explore practice nurses' current counselling practices, as well as their sociocognitive beliefs related to their smoking cessation guideline adherence and their needs regarding web-based adherence support. SETTING: Primary care; general practices in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: 19 practice nurses, actively involved in smoking cessation counselling. METHODS: Semistructured individual interviews, based on the I-Change Model and the Diffusion of Innovations Theory, were conducted from May to September 2014. Data were systematically analysed using the Framework Method and considered reliable (κ 0.77; % agreement 99%). RESULTS: Respondents felt able to be empathic and collaborative during smoking cessation consultations. They also reported psychological (eg, low self-efficacy to increase patient motivation and arranging adequate follow-up consultations) and practical barriers (eg, outdated information on quit support compensation and a perceived lack of high-quality trainings for practice nurses) to smoking cessation guideline adherence. Most respondents were interested in web-based adherence support to overcome these barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Sociocognitive determinants influence practice nurses' smoking cessation guideline adherence. To improve their adherence, web-based tailored adherence support can provide practice nurses with personally relevant feedback tailored to individually perceived barriers to smoking cessation guideline adherence. More specifically, low self-efficacy levels can be increased by peer modelling (eg, presenting narratives of colleagues) and up-to-date information can be presented online, enabling practice nurses to use it during patient consultations, resulting in more effective communication with their smoking patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NTR4436; Pre-results.

Incidence and risk factors of injuries and their impact on academic success: A prospective study in PETE students.

Injuries can have a major impact on the physical performance and academic career of physical education teacher education (PETE) students. To investigate the injury problem, risk factors, and the impact of injuries on academic success, 252 PETE students were followed during their first semester. Risk factor analysis was conducted by means of logistic regression analysis with a differentiation for upper body, lower body, acute, overuse, and severe injuries. An incidence of 1.26 injuries/student/semester was found. Most injuries involved the lower body (61%), were new injuries (76%), occurred acutely (66%), and were sustained during curricular gymnastics (25%) or extracurricular soccer (28%). Significant risk factors for lower body acute injuries were age (OR=2.14; P=.01), previous injury (OR=2.23; P=.01), and an injury at the start of the year (OR=2.56; P=.02). For lower body overuse injuries, gender (OR=2.85; P=.02) and the interval shuttle run test score (OR=2.44; P=.04) were significant risk factors. Previous injury (OR=2.59; P=.04) and injury at the start of the year (upper body: OR=4.57; P=.02; lower body: OR=3.75; P<.01) were risk factors for severe injuries. Injury-related time loss was positively related to total academic success (r=.20; P=.02) and success in theoretical courses (r=.24; P=<.01). No association was found between time loss and academic success for sport courses.

Factors influencing the reinforcing value of fruit and unhealthy snacks.

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated the reinforcing value of healthy and unhealthy snack food in adolescents (n = 108, aged 14-16 years). Moderation by access to different foods, sex and the personality trait reward sensitivity is tested. METHODS: In a computerized Food Reinforcement Task, adolescents could earn portions of a healthy and an unhealthy snack following an identical progressive reinforcement schedule for both food types. Reinforcing value of food was indexed by the number of button presses for each food type. Participants were allocated randomly to two-order condition: fruit-snack versus snack-fruit. Reward sensitivity was assessed with the Dutch age-downward version of Carver and White's BIS/BAS scale. RESULTS: Results showed that the reinforcing value of an unhealthy snack is higher than that of fruit, with participants making more button presses for unhealthy snacks, M = 1280.40, SD = 1203.53, than for fruit, M = 488.04, SD = 401.45, F(1,48) = 25.37, p < 0.001. This effect is stronger in boys (ß = -1367.67) than in girls (ß = -548.61). The effect is only present in the snack-fruit condition, not in the fruit-snack condition, indicating that access to food moderates the effect of food type. There is no evidence for moderation by reward sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Results point to the importance of simultaneously increasing barriers to obtain unhealthy food and promoting access to healthy food in order to facilitate healthy food choices.

[Effectiveness of the Assessment of Burden of COPD tool: a cluster-randomised controlled trial]. / Effectiviteit van de 'Ziektelastmeter COPD'.

OBJECTIVE: Assessment of the effectiveness of the Assessment of Burden of COPD (ABC) tool on disease-specific quality of life in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). DESIGN: Cluster-randomised controlled trial. METHOD: This concerned a trial in 39 Dutch primary care practices and 17 hospitals, involving 357 patients with COPD (postbronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio < 0.7) aged ≥ 40 years. Healthcare providers were randomized to an intervention or control group. Patients in the intervention group were treated with the ABC tool. This innovative tool consists of a short validated questionnaire and a number of objective parameters, which collectively give a visual overview of the combined integral health; the tool subsequently produces an individualized treatment plan by means of a treatment algorithm. Patients in the control group received usual care. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients with a clinically relevant improvement in disease-specific quality of life measured, as measured by means of the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score, between baseline and 18 months follow-up. Secondary outcomes included the SGRQ total score and the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) score. RESULTS: At 18-month follow-up, a significant and clinically relevant improvement in the SGRQ score was seen in 34% of the patients (N=49) in the intervention group, and in the control group this figure was 22% (N=33). This difference between the two groups was significant (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.08 to 3.16). Patients in the intervention group experienced a higher quality of care than patients in the control group (0.32 points difference in PACIC, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.50). CONCLUSION: Use of the ABC tool increases the disease-specific quality of life and the quality of care for COPD patients; it may therefore offer a valuable contribution to improvements in the daily care of COPD. Replication of this study in other (non-Dutch) health-care settings is recommended.

CO2 exposure as translational cross-species experimental model for panic.

The current diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders are being challenged by the heterogeneity and the symptom overlap of psychiatric disorders. Therefore, a framework toward a more etiology-based classification has been initiated by the US National Institute of Mental Health, the research domain criteria project. The basic neurobiology of human psychiatric disorders is often studied in rodent models. However, the differences in outcome measurements hamper the translation of knowledge. Here, we aimed to present a translational panic model by using the same stimulus and by quantitatively comparing the same outcome measurements in rodents, healthy human subjects and panic disorder patients within one large project. We measured the behavioral-emotional and bodily response to CO2 exposure in all three samples, allowing for a reliable cross-species comparison. We show that CO2 exposure causes a robust fear response in terms of behavior in mice and panic symptom ratings in healthy volunteers and panic disorder patients. To improve comparability, we next assessed the respiratory and cardiovascular response to CO2, demonstrating corresponding respiratory and cardiovascular effects across both species. This project bridges the gap between basic and human research to improve the translation of knowledge between these disciplines. This will allow significant progress in unraveling the etiological basis of panic disorder and will be highly beneficial for refining the diagnostic categories as well as treatment strategies.

Using a gamified monitoring app to change adolescents' snack intake: the development of the REWARD app and evaluation design.

BACKGROUND: As the snacking pattern of European adolescents is of great concern, effective interventions are necessary. Till now health promotion efforts in children and adolescents have had only limited success in changing adolescents' eating patterns and anthropometrics. Therefore, the present study proposes an innovative approach to influence dietary behaviors in youth based on new insights on effective behavior change strategies and attractive intervention channels to engage adolescents. This article describes the rationale, the development, and evaluation design of the 'Snack Track School' app. The aim of the app is to improve the snacking patterns of Flemish 14- to 16-year olds. METHODS: The development of the app was informed by the systematic, stepwise, iterative, and collaborative principles of the Intervention Mapping protocol. A four week mHealth intervention was developed based on the dual-system model with behavioral change strategies targeting both the reflective (i.e., active learning, advance organizers, mere exposure, goal-setting, monitoring, and feedback) and automatic processes (i.e., rewards and positive reinforcement). This intervention will be evaluated via a controlled pre-post design in Flemish schools among 1400 adolescents. DISCUSSION: When this intervention including strategies focused on both the reflective and automatic pathway proves to be effective, it will offer a new scientifically-based vision, guidelines and practical tools for public health and health promotion (i.e., incorporation of learning theories in intervention programs). TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02622165 registrated November 15, 2015 on clinicaltrials.gov.

Discrepancies Between Perceptions of the Parent-Adolescent Relationship and Early Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: An Illustration of Polynomial Regression Analysis.

Adolescence is a critical period for the development of depressive symptoms. Lower quality of the parent-adolescent relationship has been consistently associated with higher adolescent depressive symptoms, but discrepancies in perceptions of parents and adolescents regarding the quality of their relationship may be particularly important to consider. In the present study, we therefore examined how discrepancies in parents' and adolescents' perceptions of the parent-adolescent relationship were associated with early adolescent depressive symptoms, both concurrently and longitudinally over a 1-year period. Our sample consisted of 497 Dutch adolescents (57 % boys, M age = 13.03 years), residing in the western and central regions of the Netherlands, and their mothers and fathers, who all completed several questionnaires on two occasions with a 1-year interval. Adolescents reported on depressive symptoms and all informants reported on levels of negative interaction in the parent-adolescent relationship. Results from polynomial regression analyses including interaction terms between informants' perceptions, which have recently been proposed as more valid tests of hypotheses involving informant discrepancies than difference scores, suggested the highest adolescent depressive symptoms when both the mother and the adolescent reported high negative interaction, and when the adolescent reported high but the father reported low negative interaction. This pattern of findings underscores the need for a more sophisticated methodology such as polynomial regression analysis including tests of moderation, rather than the use of difference scores, which can adequately address both congruence and discrepancies in perceptions of adolescents and mothers/fathers of the parent-adolescent relationship in detail. Such an analysis can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of risk factors for early adolescent depressive symptoms.

Adolescent Loneliness and Social Skills: Agreement and Discrepancies Between Self-, Meta-, and Peer-Evaluations.

Lonely adolescents report that they have poor social skills, but it is unknown whether this is due to an accurate perception of a social skills deficit, or a biased negative perception. This is an important distinction, as actual social skills deficits require different treatments than biased negative perceptions. In this study, we compared self-reported social skills evaluations with peer-reported social skills and meta-evaluations of social skills (i.e., adolescents' perceptions of how they believe their classmates evaluate them). Based on the social skills view, we expected negative relations between loneliness and these three forms of social skills evaluations. Based on the bias view, we expected lonely adolescents to have more negative self- and meta-evaluations compared to peer-evaluations of social skills. Participants were 1342 adolescents (48.64 % male, M age = 13.95, SD = .54). All classmates rated each other in a round-robin design to obtain peer-evaluations. Self- and meta-evaluations were obtained using self-reports. Data were analyzed using polynomial regression analyses and response surface modeling. The results indicated that, when self-, peer- and meta-evaluations were similar, a greater sense of loneliness was related to poorer social skills. Loneliness was also related to larger discrepancies between self- and peer-evaluations of loneliness, but not related to the direction of these discrepancies. Thus, for some lonely adolescents, loneliness may be related to an actual social skills deficit, whereas for others a biased negative perception of one's own social skills or a mismatch with the environment may be related to their loneliness. This implies that different mechanisms may underlie loneliness, which has implications for interventions.

Depressive symptoms in adolescence: The role of perceived parental support, psychological control, and proactive control in interaction with 5-HTTLPR.

BACKGROUND: Parenting dimensions are associated with depressive symptoms in adolescents. We investigated the role of perceived parenting dimensions and gene-environment interactions between these perceived parenting dimensions and five well-known variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs): 5-HTTLPR, STin2, DAT1, DRD4, and MAO-A, in depressive symptoms. METHODS: From a non-clinical sample of 1111 Belgian adolescents (mean age: 13.79 years, SD=.94; 51% boys), 1103 adolescents consented for genetic research. Five VNTRs were analyzed using DNA from saliva samples. Perceived parenting dimensions (i.e., support, proactive control, psychological control, punishment, and harsh punishment) were examined using self-report scales completed by adolescents and their parents. Depressive symptoms were investigated using the CES-D self-report scale. Statistical analyses were performed in R using linear regression. RESULTS: Parental support, as perceived by the adolescent, was negatively associated with depressive symptoms (CES-D) and psychological control was positively associated with these symptoms. The only interaction effect withstanding correction for multiple testing was observed for 5-HTTLPR and the difference in proactive control as perceived by adolescents in comparison to parents. Short-allele carriers showed more depressive symptoms when there was a higher discrepancy in proactive control as perceived by adolescents versus parents. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that perceived parenting dimensions are associated with depressive symptoms, as measured by the CES-D. We only found modest evidence for 5-HTTLPR as a moderator in the association between the difference in perception of proactive control (adolescents vs. parents) and depressive symptoms.