Gene-environment Interactions in Families With Adolescents (Gen-omgevingsinteracties in Gezinnen Met Adolescenten) (GiGA)

Personality and Vulnerability for Affective Spectrum Disorders and Complaints: The Role of Gene-Environment Correlations (rGE) and Interactions (GxE)

English:

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the developmental trajectories of parents and adolescents in the Flemish region of Belgium. The investigators will focus on the role of genetic factors, environmental factors (e.g. parental rearing styles), and the interaction between these factors. Specifically, it will be investigated were difficulties or strengths in the development of adolescents can be attributed to. How an individual's genetic characteristics and his/her family environment can interact, will also be monitored. This study is closely related to the Leuvense Adoption Study (http://leuvenseadoptiestudie.be/). Just like this research, the investigators will take child and parent factors in account, as well as their interaction. The investigators will not only focus on vulnerability, but also on protective factors that can give resilience to both parents and children. The theoretical framework of this study is twofold. (1) In the development of children, genes and environment are interwoven in a dynamical relation. Neither genes or environment alone can explain how a child will develop over time. (2) The relation between genetic and environmental factors can be expressed in different ways. On the one hand, a certain genetic contribution can impact the way parents will uphold a certain parental rearing style. On the other hand, having certain genetic characteristics will have consequences for how adolescents will react to their environment. For example, a certain parental rearing style will strengthen some adolescents resilience, but for other adolescents this could equally lead to a more maladaptive development. Thus, depending on his or her genetic endowment, a child will develop differently given a certain family environment.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Affective Spectrum Symptoms

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 1326

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Oost-Vlaanderen
    • Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium, 9000
      • University of Gent - Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences - Department of Developmental-, Personality- and Social Psychology
  • Vlaams-Brabant
    • Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium, 3000
      • KU Leuven - Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences - Clinical Psychology Research Unit

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT, CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adopted adolescents and their parents, adolescents with their biological parents, and an additional community sample.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adolescents adopted before the age of one and currently 12 to 18 years old (from international adoption) and their adoptive parents
• Matched community sample of adolescents between the age of 12 and 18 years old and their biological related parents

Exclusion Criteria:

• Major medical or psychiatric disease

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

3

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Adopted adolescents and their adoptive parents; Adopted before the age of one, currently between 12 to 18 years old
Adolescents and their biological related parents; Matched to adoptive adolescents
Additional community sample

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Beck's Depression Inventory / Children's Depression Inventory	Dimensional assessment and cut-off scores using Beck's Depression Inventory for the adults and Kovacs' Children's Depression Inventory for the adolescents.	current symptoms, measured once after enrollment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Somatic Symptoms Questionnaire	Pain and fatigue related complaints. Sometimes referred to as somatic complaints.	current complaints, measured once after enrollment
Depressive Experiences Questionnaire: self-criticism and dependency	Personality assessment by Blatt's polarities of experience model. Blatt's model is a two-polarity model: relatedness (dependency) and self-definition (self-criticism).	measured once after enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven
• Collaborators: Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders, Belgium
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Patrick Luyten, Prof. Dr., KU Leuven - Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences - Clinical Psychology Research Unit

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): February 1, 2017
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): February 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 19, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2023
• First Posted (ACTUAL): February 8, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): February 8, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2023
• Last Verified: May 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: S56106