Adolescents’ well being is affected by their parenting situation and can influence their well being over time. We present an exploratory study with an Illumina 450k array, comparing methylation in adolescents, based on perceived parenting at T₀, and how methylation can interact with parenting in explaining depressive symptoms two years later (T₂).

Identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) associated with perceived parenting at T₀ and investigate their association with depressive symptoms two years later.

An exploratory analysis evaluating the association between methylation and depressive symptoms longitudinally.

From two extreme parenting clusters: perceived supportive, and punishing neglecting, we randomly selected 44 adolescents (M_Age=14 at T₀; 48%boys). The CES-D scale (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) assessed depressive symptoms. DMRs were identified based on the parenting clusters (DMRcate and comb-p) using llumina Infinium HumanMethylation 450 BeadChip data. Associations between the most significant CpG for each DMR and the depression score at T₂, were calculated using linear regression analysis.

We identified 17 DMRs, but only cg13306335 in PEX10 was associated with depressive symptoms at T₂ (P=0.0014, Bonferroni (17 tests): P<0.0029). Additionally, an interaction between parenting at T₀ and PEX10 methylation (T₀) in explaining depressive symptoms (T₂) can be suggested (P=0.014).

We show that methylation at PEX10's most significant CpG is correlated with depressive symptoms at T₂, these exploratory results also suggest a possible interaction between parenting and PEX10 methylation at T₀ in association with depressive symptoms at T₂. Validation in a larger sample is needed to support the role of methylation and its interactions in depression over time.