{
  "abstract": "Introduction Poor housing quality associates with risk for depression. However, previous research often lacks consideration of socioeconomic status (SES) baseline depressive symptoms and biological processes, leading to concerns of confounding and reverse causation.Methods In a sample of up to 9669 adults, we investigated cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between housing quality (assessed at age 28, 1-year and 2 year follow-ups) and depressive symptoms (at four intervals between enrolment and 18-year follow-up). In subsamples (n=871, n=731), we investigated indirect effects via DNA methylation.Results Poor housing quality associated with depressive symptoms cross-sectionally (beta range: 0.02–0.06) after controlling for SES and other factors. Longitudinally, this association persisted at the ~2 year, but not the ~18-year follow-up period. Indirect effects (β=0.002–0.012) linked to genes related to ageing, obesity and brain health.Conclusion These results highlight poor housing quality as a risk factor for depression and the potential role of DNA methylation in this association.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Faye Sanders"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Vilte Baltramonaityte"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA",
        "Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA",
        "Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Alexandre A Lussier"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Mathematics and Statistics Research Group, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Andrew D A C Smith"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA",
        "Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA",
        "Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA",
        "Department of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA"
      ],
      "name": "Erin C Dunn"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Esther Walton"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Home and epigenome: exploring the role of DNA methylation in the relationship between poor housing quality and depressive symptoms",
  "uid": "5107e53e-5eb6-5973-a3a6-beb27d22de68"
}