Genotypic and socioeconomic risks for depressive symptoms in two U.S. cohorts spanning early to older adulthood

The developmental pathways linking genetic risk for depression and depressive symptoms in adulthood remain poorly understood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 5,690), we found that the association between genetic risk for depressive symptoms and increases in depressive symptoms from early adolescence to adulthood was partially mediated by four socioeconomic resource variables assessed in adulthood: educational attainment, total assets, debt, and access to health insurance. In a preregistered and confirmatory replication using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (N = 8,964), the genetic risk for depression symptoms change across late midlife was again partially mediated by the four socioeconomic resource variables. Using within-family, sibling-difference analyses, however, we found no evidence in support of direct genetic effects on the putative environmental mediators. The results highlight the need to explore between- and within-family model specifications for a more complete understanding of gene-environment pathways to psychiatric disease. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).