|
|
| PMID |
|
|
| TITLE |
|
| The long reach of childhood income inequality: a multinational twin study of gene-environment interplay on adult depressive symptoms. |
|
| ABSTRACT |
|
| BACKGROUND |
NlmCategory: BACKGROUND |
| Living in a country with a large gap between high and low earners has been linked to poor health, including depression. Less studied is gene-by-environment interplay with income inequality as the environmental exposure. Here, we examine the association between childhood exposure to inequality and individual differences in adult depressive symptoms, testing for moderation of genetic influences by inequality using polygenic indices for major depressive disorder, as well as twin models. |
| METHODS |
NlmCategory: METHODS |
| Living in a country with a large gap between high and low earners has been linked to poor health, including depression. Less studied is gene-by-environment interplay with income inequality as the environmental exposure. Here, we examine the association between childhood exposure to inequality and individual differences in adult depressive symptoms, testing for moderation of genetic influences by inequality using polygenic indices for major depressive disorder, as well as twin models. The research participants were 69,924 members of twin studies from four developed countries, born between 1893 and 1979, aged 22-103 years at depressive symptom assessment. Genotyping was available for 6,256 participants. Income inequality was operationalized as share of income accruing to the top 1% for each country when the participants were between age 5 and 15 years. |
| RESULTS |
NlmCategory: RESULTS |
| Living in a country with a large gap between high and low earners has been linked to poor health, including depression. Less studied is gene-by-environment interplay with income inequality as the environmental exposure. Here, we examine the association between childhood exposure to inequality and individual differences in adult depressive symptoms, testing for moderation of genetic influences by inequality using polygenic indices for major depressive disorder, as well as twin models. The research participants were 69,924 members of twin studies from four developed countries, born between 1893 and 1979, aged 22-103 years at depressive symptom assessment. Genotyping was available for 6,256 participants. Income inequality was operationalized as share of income accruing to the top 1% for each country when the participants were between age 5 and 15 years. Childhood income inequality was associated with depressive symptom scores in adulthood, adjusting for covariates. Each 1% rise in inequality was associated with 0.295 higher depressive symptoms (scaled on T-score units). In genetic analyses, interaction effects showed that men who faced more inequality as children and had higher genetic risk for depression reported modestly higher depressive symptoms compared to other men. For women, both genetic risk and inequality mattered, with each independently associated with depressive symptoms. Twin models showed that inequality moderated genetic variance underlying depressive symptoms; heritability of depressive symptoms was higher where exposure to income inequality was higher. |
| CONCLUSIONS |
NlmCategory: CONCLUSIONS |
| Living in a country with a large gap between high and low earners has been linked to poor health, including depression. Less studied is gene-by-environment interplay with income inequality as the environmental exposure. Here, we examine the association between childhood exposure to inequality and individual differences in adult depressive symptoms, testing for moderation of genetic influences by inequality using polygenic indices for major depressive disorder, as well as twin models. The research participants were 69,924 members of twin studies from four developed countries, born between 1893 and 1979, aged 22-103 years at depressive symptom assessment. Genotyping was available for 6,256 participants. Income inequality was operationalized as share of income accruing to the top 1% for each country when the participants were between age 5 and 15 years. Childhood income inequality was associated with depressive symptom scores in adulthood, adjusting for covariates. Each 1% rise in inequality was associated with 0.295 higher depressive symptoms (scaled on T-score units). In genetic analyses, interaction effects showed that men who faced more inequality as children and had higher genetic risk for depression reported modestly higher depressive symptoms compared to other men. For women, both genetic risk and inequality mattered, with each independently associated with depressive symptoms. Twin models showed that inequality moderated genetic variance underlying depressive symptoms; heritability of depressive symptoms was higher where exposure to income inequality was higher. Findings illustrate the long reach of childhood exposure to income inequality and suggest that advantaged environments may help protect against the effects of deleterious genes. |
|
| DATE PUBLISHED |
|
|
| HISTORY |
|
| PUBSTATUS |
PUBSTATUSDATE |
| medline |
2026/06/09 00:34 |
| pubmed |
2026/06/08 12:39 |
| entrez |
2026/06/08 06:13 |
| pmc-release |
2026/06/08 |
|
| AUTHORS |
|
| NAME |
COLLECTIVENAME |
LASTNAME |
FORENAME |
INITIALS |
AFFILIATION |
AFFILIATIONINFO |
| Petkus AJ |
|
Petkus |
Andrew J |
AJ |
|
Department of Neurology, https://ror.org/03taz7m60University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA. |
| Reynolds CA |
|
Reynolds |
Chandra A |
CA |
|
Institute for Behavioral Genetics and Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, https://ror.org/02ttsq026University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA. |
| Finch BK |
|
Finch |
Brian K |
BK |
|
Center for Economic and Social Research and Department of Sociology and Spatial Sciences, https://ror.org/03taz7m60University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. |
| Thomas K |
|
Thomas |
Kyla |
K |
|
Center for Economic and Social Research, https://ror.org/03taz7m60University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. |
| Beam CR |
|
Beam |
Christopher R |
CR |
|
Department of Psychology and Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, https://ror.org/03taz7m60University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. |
| Catts VS |
|
Catts |
Vibeke S |
VS |
|
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, https://ror.org/03r8z3t63University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. |
| Ericsson M |
|
Ericsson |
Malin |
M |
|
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, https://ror.org/056d84691Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. |
| Finkel DG |
|
Finkel |
Deborah G |
DG |
|
Institute for Gerontology, https://ror.org/03t54am93Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden. |
| Franz CE |
|
Franz |
Carol E |
CE |
|
Department of Psychiatry, https://ror.org/0168r3w48University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA. |
| Kremen WS |
|
Kremen |
William S |
WS |
|
Department of Psychiatry, https://ror.org/0168r3w48University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA. |
| Larsen LA |
|
Larsen |
Lisbeth Aagaard |
LA |
|
The Danish Twin Registry, Department of Public Health, https://ror.org/03yrrjy16University of Southern Denmark: Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark. |
| Martin NG |
|
Martin |
Nicholas G |
NG |
|
Mental Health and Neuroscience, https://ror.org/004y8wk30Queensland Institute of Medical Research - QIMR: QIMR Berghofer Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia. |
| McGue M |
|
McGue |
Matt |
M |
|
Department of Psychology, https://ror.org/017zqws13University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA. |
| Mosing MA |
|
Mosing |
Miriam A |
MA |
|
https://ror.org/000rdbk18Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany. |
| Neiderhiser JM |
|
Neiderhiser |
Jenae M |
JM |
|
Department of Psychology, https://ror.org/04p491231The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA. |
| Nygaard M |
|
Nygaard |
Marianne |
M |
|
The Danish Twin Registry, Department of Public Health, https://ror.org/03yrrjy16University of Southern Denmark: Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark. |
| Pedersen NL |
|
Pedersen |
Nancy L |
NL |
|
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, https://ror.org/056d84691Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. |
| Thalamuthu A |
|
Thalamuthu |
Anbupalam |
A |
|
Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, https://ror.org/03r8z3t63University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. |
| Whitfield KE |
|
Whitfield |
Keith E |
KE |
|
Program for Research on Men's Health, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Research, https://ror.org/00za53h95Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA. |
| Gatz M |
|
Gatz |
Margaret |
M |
|
Center for Economic and Social Research, https://ror.org/03taz7m60University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. |
|
IGEMS Consortium |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| INVESTIGATORS |
|
|
| JOURNAL |
|
| VOLUME: 56 |
| ISSUE: |
| TITLE: Psychological medicine |
| ISOABBREVIATION: Psychol Med |
| YEAR: 2026 |
| MONTH: Jun |
| DAY: 08 |
| MEDLINEDATE: |
| SEASON: |
| CITEDMEDIUM: Internet |
| ISSN: 1469-8978 |
| ISSNTYPE: Electronic |
|
| MEDLINE JOURNAL |
|
| MEDLINETA: Psychol Med |
| COUNTRY: England |
| ISSNLINKING: 0033-2917 |
| NLMUNIQUEID: 1254142 |
|
| PUBLICATION TYPE |
|
| PUBLICATIONTYPE TEXT |
| Journal Article |
| Twin Study |
|
| COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS |
|
|
| GRANTS |
|
| GRANTID |
AGENCY |
COUNTRY |
| R01 AG059329 |
NIA NIH HHS |
United States |
| R01 AG060470 |
NIA NIH HHS |
United States |
| R01 AG089666 |
NIA NIH HHS |
United States |
| R01 AG081248 |
NIA NIH HHS |
United States |
|
| GENERAL NOTE |
|
|
| KEYWORDS |
|
| KEYWORD |
| aged |
| depressive symptoms |
| diathesis-stress |
| economic inequalities |
| polygenic index |
| twin study |
|
| MESH HEADINGS |
|
| DESCRIPTORNAME |
QUALIFIERNAME |
| Humans |
|
| Gene-Environment Interaction |
|
| Male |
|
| Female |
|
| Adult |
|
| Income |
statistics & numerical data |
| Depression |
epidemiology |
| Middle Aged |
epidemiology |
| Aged |
epidemiology |
| Socioeconomic Disparities in Health |
epidemiology |
| Young Adult |
epidemiology |
| Aged, 80 and over |
epidemiology |
| Genetic Risk Score |
epidemiology |
| Child |
epidemiology |
| Major Depressive Disorder |
epidemiology |
| Adolescent |
epidemiology |
| Child, Preschool |
epidemiology |
|
| SUPPLEMENTARY MESH |
|
|
| GENE SYMBOLS |
|
|
| CHEMICALS |
|
|
| OTHER ID's |
|
|
|
