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Polygenic scores may indicate well-being following spousal death

Adults with higher well-being polygenic scores were less likely to experience depression following the death of a spouse, according to recent findings.

“Experience of stressful life events is associated with risk of depression. Yet not all stress-exposed individuals become depressed,” Benjamin W. Domingue, PhD, of Stanford University Graduate School of Education, and colleagues wrote. “A controversial hypothesis is that genetic differences between individuals modify the influence of life-stress on depression. This ‘diathesis-stress’ hypothesis is supported by family-based genetic studies that find individuals with familial liability to depression are more vulnerable to developing depression following stress exposure. Molecular genetic evidence for the diathesis stress hypothesis from candidate-gene studies is contested, partly because of concerns about the candidate-gene approach.”

To assess whether genetic predisposition to greater subjective well-being protected against risk for depression following spousal death, researchers conducted a polygenic score study among 8,588 non-Hispanic white adults from the Health and Retirement Study.

Adults with higher well-being polygenic scores exhibited fewer depressive symptoms during follow-up.

Participants who survived the death of their spouse (n = 1,647) experienced a severe increase in depressive symptoms following spousal death and then returned toward baseline levels over the following 2 years.

Having a higher well-being polygenic score protected against increased depressive symptoms following a spouse’s death, according to researchers.

“Research into interplay between genes and environments has a contentious history in psychiatry. With the advent of large-scale [genome-wide association studies], new, more reliable genetic measures of liability to psychiatric disorders and other mental health characteristics are emerging,” the researchers wrote. “At the same time, genetic data are becoming available for large, population-based social surveys that have recorded environmental exposure information about participants. Together, these resources make possible a new generation of molecular genetic research into gene-environment interplay in the etiology of psychiatric disorders.” – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: Please see the study for a full list of relevant financial disclosures.