Brain Volume Abnormalities in Youth at High Risk for Depression: Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE\nChildren of parents with depression are 2-3 times more likely to develop major depressive disorder (MDD) than those without a parental history; however, subcortical brain volume abnormalities characterizing MDD risk remain unclear. The Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study provides an opportunity to identify subcortical differences associated with parental depressive history.\n\n\nMETHOD\nStructural MRI data were acquired from 9-10-year-old children (n=11,876; release 1.1=4,521; release 2.0.1=7,355). Approximately one-third of the children had a parental depressive history; providing sufficient power to test differences between low- and high-risk youth in subcortical brain volume. Children from release 1.1 were examined as a discovery sample, and we sought to replicate effects in release 2.0.1. Secondary analyses tested group differences in the prevalence of depressive disorders and clarified whether subcortical brain differences were present in youth with a lifetime depressive disorder history.\n\n\nRESULTS\nParental depressive history was related to smaller right putamen volume in the discovery (release 1.1; Cohen s d=-0.10) and replication (release 2.0.1; d=-0.10) samples. However, in release 1.1, this effect was driven by maternal depressive history (d=-0.14) whereas in release 2.0.1, paternal depressive history showed a stronger relation with putamen volume (d=-0.09). Further, high-risk children exhibited a near 2-fold greater occurrence of depressive disorders relative to low-risk youth (maternal history OR=1.99; paternal history OR=1.45), but youth with a lifetime depressive history did not exhibit significant subcortical abnormalities.\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nA parental depressive history was associated with smaller putamen volume, which may affect reward learning processes that confer increased risk for MDD.