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Is serotonin transporter genotype associated with epigenetic susceptibility or vulnerability? Examination of the impact of socioeconomic status risk on African American youth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 January 2014

Steven R. H. Beach ,
Gene H. Brody ,
Man Kit Lei ,
Sangjin Kim ,
Juan Cui  and
Robert A. Philibert
Steven R. H. Beach*
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Gene H. Brody
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Man Kit Lei
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Sangjin Kim
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Juan Cui
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Robert A. Philibert
Affiliation:
University of Iowa
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Steven R. H. Beach, Center for Family Research, University of Georgia, 1095 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30602-4527; E-mail: srhbeach@uga.edu.
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Abstract

We hypothesized that presence of the short allele in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter would moderate the effect of early cumulative socioeconomic status (SES) risk on epigenetic change among African American youth. Contrasting hypotheses regarding the shape of the interaction effect were generated using vulnerability and susceptibility frameworks and applied to data from a sample of 388 African American youth. Early cumulative SES risk assessed at 11–13 years based on parent report interacted with presence of the short allele to predict differential methylation assessed at age 19. Across multiple tests, a differential susceptibility perspective rather than a diathesis–stress framework best fit the data for genes associated with depression, consistently demonstrating greater epigenetic response to early cumulative SES risk among short allele carriers. A pattern consistent with greater impact among short allele carriers also was observed using all cytosine nucleotide–phosphate–guanine nucleotide sites across the genome that were differentially affected by early cumulative SES risk. We conclude that the short allele is associated with increased responsiveness to early cumulative SES risk among African American youth, leading to epigenetic divergence for depression-related genes in response to exposure to heightened SES risk among short allele carriers in a “for better” or “for worse” pattern.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , May 2014 , pp. 289 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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