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Intergenerational Transmission of Well Being–Genetic and Epigenetic Mechanisms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

E. Unternaehrer ,
K. Greenlaw ,
S. Hari Dass ,
L.M. Chen ,
A.A. Bouvette-Turcot ,
K. Cost ,
K.J. O’Donnell ,
H. Gaudreau ,
L. McEwen  and
J. MacIsaac
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E. Unternaehrer
Affiliation:
McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada
K. Greenlaw
Affiliation:
Lady Davis Institute, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology, Montreal, Canada
S. Hari Dass
Affiliation:
McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada
L.M. Chen
Affiliation:
McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada
A.A. Bouvette-Turcot
Affiliation:
McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada
K. Cost
Affiliation:
Sick Kids, Department of Psychiatry, Toronto, Canada
K.J. O’Donnell
Affiliation:
McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada
H. Gaudreau
Affiliation:
McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada
L. McEwen
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Vancouver, Canada
J. MacIsaac
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Vancouver, Canada
M.S. Kobor
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Vancouver, Canada
A.S. Fleming
Affiliation:
University of Toronto Mississauga, Department of Psychology, Toronto, Canada
L. Atkinson
Affiliation:
Ryerson University, Department of Psychology, Toronto, Canada
J.E. Lydon
Affiliation:
McGill University, Department of Psychology, Montreal, Canada
M. Steiner
Affiliation:
McMaster University, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences, Hamilton, Canada
A. Ciampi
Affiliation:
Lady Davis Institute, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology, Montreal, Canada
C.M.T. Greenwood
Affiliation:
Lady Davis Institute, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology, Montreal, Canada
M.J. Meaney
Affiliation:
McGill University, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Canada

Abstract

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Introduction

Maternal mental well being influences offspring development. Research suggests that an interplay between genetic and environmental factors underlies this familial transmission of mental disorders.

Objectives

To explore an interaction between genetic and environmental factors to predict trajectories of maternal mental well being, and to examine whether these trajectories are associated with epigenetic modifications in mothers and their offspring.

Method

We assessed maternal childhood trauma and rearing experiences, prenatal and postnatal symptoms of depression and stress experience from 6 to 72 months postpartum, and genetic and epigenetic variation in a longitudinal birth-cohort study (n = 262) (Maternal adversity, vulnerability and neurodevelopment project). We used latent class modeling to describe trajectories in maternal depressive symptoms, parenting stress, marital stress and general stress, taking polygenetic risk for major depressive disorder (MDD), a composite score for maternal early life adversities, and prenatal depressive symptoms into account.

Results

Genetic risk for MDD associated with trajectories of maternal well being in the postpartum, conditional on the experience of early life adversities and prenatal symptoms of depression. We will explore whether these trajectories are also linked to DNA methylation patterns in mothers and their offspring. Preliminary analyses suggest that maternal early life adversities associate with offspring DNA methylation age estimates, which is mediated through maternal mental well being and maternal DNA methylation age estimates.

Conclusion

We found relevant gene-environment interactions associated with trajectories of maternal well being. Our findings inform research on mechanisms underlying familial transmission of vulnerability for psychopathology and might thus be relevant to prevention and early intervention programs.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Type
Symposium: Intergenerational transmission of parenting: Epigenetic, genetic, and psychological mechanisms
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 41 , Issue S1: Abstract of the 25th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2017 , pp. S29 - S30
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2017
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