Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-06-23
Abstract： There has been a dramatic rise in gene–environment interaction (G × E) studies of depression over the last two decades. These studies are pivotal to understanding the etiology of depression and individual differences in environmental sensitivity. However, these studies rarely take into consideration how the genotype by environment interactions change over development and how the interactions work on the developmental trajectories of depression. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene is a good candidate for the investigation of the dynamic genetic effects on depression because it is involved in several age-related changes in behavior and brain maturation. On the one hand, the effect of the BDNF gene may depend on the basal BDNF level. The BDNF level peaks during adolescence, so the effect of the BDNF gene on depression may change during development. Moreover, peer experiences change may alter epigenetic modifications of the BDNF gene, which may change the pattern of gene–environment interactions. On the other hand, according to the developmental cascades model, the differences in genetic effects on depression may increase over time in that initial depressive symptoms may evoke poor peer experiences. Taken together, this study aimed to investigate the age differences in the G × E interaction on depression and the G × E effect on the developmental trajectories of depression.
One thousand and eighty-six adolescents (aged 11–12 years with a mean of 12.32, 50% girls) were followed up for three years. Saliva samples, self-reported depressive symptoms, and peer nomination were all collected. All of the measures showed good reliability. Concurrent hierarchical regression analyses and latent growth curve models (LGCMs) were conducted. We also completed re-parameterized regression and parallel LGCMs to understand the gene by environment interaction pattern and the dynamic association between peer relationships and depression.
The results showed that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism significantly moderated the influence of peer rejection—but not peer acceptance—on youth depressive symptoms at three time points; however, the susceptible genotype changed over time. In particular, the effect of peer rejection on depression was stronger in MetMet compared to ValMet carriers at 12 years of age; the effect of peer rejection on depression was stronger in MetMet and ValVal compared to ValMet carriers at 13 years of age; the effect of peer rejection on depression was stronger in ValVal carriers compared to ValMet carriers at 14 years of age. LGCMs suggested that adolescents’ depression increased in a linear trajectory from 12 to 14 years of age. In addition, there were significant genotype differences in the change of depression over time, but this effect was not moderated by peer relationships.
These findings may move research in the field away from the simplistic notion of risk alleles, recognizing that an allele may be a risk factor during one period and a protective factor during another. Further, this study has progressed the conceptualization of how genes and the environment interact to influence the developmental trajectories of depression during early adolescence.
Subjects: Psychology >> Educational Psychology submitted time 2021-08-21
Abstract： Although the debate over “nature versus nurture” has been an intense focus of creativity research and great efforts have been made to identify genes and environmental factors that contribute to creativity, the molecular biological mechanisms by which environment and gene-environment interaction may influence creativity are still unknown. Recently, with the development of epigenetic studies, identification of the epigenetic basis of complex traits and behaviors has been one of the leading issues in psychological research. As a potential mediator between environment and genome, the epigenetic approach provides an opportunity to reveal how the complex interactions of genes, epigenetics and environment give rise to individual differences in creativity. Based on this notion, by investigating the relationship between methylation of dopamine-related genes, family environment and creativity, the present study aims to reveal the epigenetic basis of creativity and the molecular biological mechanisms by which environment and gene-environment interaction may influence creativity. To this purpose, the present study employs a two-stage design. Stage 1 is designed to systematically investigate the association between methylation of dopamine-related genes and creativity, and aims to identify the gene whose methylation is associated with creativity. Stage 2 focuses on the identified gene whose methylation is associated with creativity, and is designed to investigate the relationship between family environment, genotypes, methylation and creativity. It is expected that findings of the present study would help to demonstrate the epigenetic basis of creativity and to provide important insight into the mechanisms by which genes and environmental factors interplay with each other to influence creativity. "
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2020-11-23
Abstract： The negative effect of parental marital conflict on child development had been well documented in both theoretical and empirical studies. Specifically, parental marital conflict had a short- and long-term effect on children’s cognitive development and socioemotional development. Cognitive and emotional process and family process were described to clarify how parental marital conflict affected child development. In addition, child and environmental factors may moderate the association between parental marital conflict and child development. Future studies should examine the effects of parental marital conflict on child development in multiple aspects simultaneously and integrate the multi-mechanism of parental marital conflict on child development.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2020-07-10
Abstract： Creativity has been emphasized as a key competence for adolescents to achieve success in the rapidly changing world. Although developmental psychologists have put tremendous efforts into identifying the developmental trajectory of creativity, no consensus has yet been reached. Researchers have found many factors that potentially affect the development of creativity, including individual differences (such as gender differences), and the influence of the classroom environment. Besides, previous studies have not examined the creativity trajectory taking both the initial level and the growth speed into consideration. To address these flaws, the present study adopted a longitudinal design to explore the creativity development of senior primary school students through the between-person comparisons of different gender groups and school supports (the support from teachers and peers) as well as the within-person changes in response to the changing supports from schools. Two hundred and three Grade-4 primary school students (109 boys and 94 girls, mean age = 10.43 years, SD = 0.62 years, during the first phase of the test, T1) from three elementary schools participated in the three years’ longitudinal study and were assessed for three times (T1, T2, T3). Runco Creativity Assessment Battery (figural divergent thinking tests from rCAB) and Perceived School Climate Scale were used to measure creativity and school support, respectively. The study project was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Shandong Normal University and obtained the informed consent of parents of the participants. The data were managed and analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and HLM 6.08 software. A series of analyses, including descriptive, correlation, and multilevel analyses, were conducted to explore the developmental trajectory of creativity and the potential relationship between the school support and creativity. The results of the study were as follows: (1) The fluency of creativity of senior primary school students from grade 4 to 6 showed a linear growth trend, while the flexibility and originality of creativity showed a non-linear growth trend. In addition, the initial level of creativity was positively correlated with its growth speed. (2) Individual differences existed not only in the initial levels of fluency, flexibility, and originality, but also in the growth speed of fluency and originality. (3) Senior primary school girls performed significantly higher at initial levels of flexibility and originality than their male counterparts. (4) On the between-person level, the interaction between teacher support and gender significantly predicted the initial level of flexibility; teacher support significantly positively predicted the initial level of fluency; teacher support significantly positively predicted the growth speed of originality. (5) On the within-person level, time-varying teacher support significantly positively predicted time-varying fluency. The current study is, to our knowledge, the first exploration to describe the developmental trajectory of senior primary school students’ creativity in Mainland China using a longitudinal design. These findings will deepen the understanding of developmental rules of creativity, and provide implications for the cultivation of creativity among senior primary school students.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
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