Early Childhood SES and Major Depressive Disorder (Mdd) in Later-Life

Khatia Nadaraia , IC3JM

The objective of this paper was to explore the effect of early childhood SES on the predisposition for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Taking into account that there are both genetics and social determinants of MDD, the analysis here presented attempts to extrapolate the role of each, essentially testing the hypotheses at the interaction between social sciences and natural studies: epigenetics. The hypothesis of this paper is that childhood SES has an essential role in later life predisposition for MDD. I tested this conjecture using a revised version of the KHB analysis in order to actually capture the relative mediation of the regressors. In particular, I sought to explain three outcomes: a) childhood SES has long-lasting effect on MDD outcomes in later life; b) The persistence of early disadvantages is not fully mediated by midlife social outcomes; c) Regardless of differences in genetic predisposition (proxied by neuroticism), the effect of childhood SES on MDD in later life persists. I find positive results on the persistence of the effect of early childhood disadvantage on MDD outcome in later-life, at age 50 and more.

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 Presented in Session 93. Mental Health and Wellbeing