Biological Psychiatry, 2020, 87(9), S323. [Presented at the 75^th Annual Meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry (SoBP) in New York, NY, April 30 - May 2, 2020.]

Predicting depression symptoms in families at risk for depression: Interactive roles of posterior EEG alpha and religion/spirituality

Lidia Wong¹, Gerard E. Bruder², Connie Svob^1,2, Priya Wickramaratne^1,2, Marc J. Gameroff^1,2, Myrna M. Weissman^1,2, Craig E. Tenke^1,2, Jürgen Kayser^1,2

¹New York State Psychiatric Institute; ²Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

Abstract

Background: Posterior EEG alpha has been identified as a putative biomarker of clinical outcomes in major depression (MDD). Separately, personal importance of religion and spirituality (R/S) has been shown to provide protective benefits for persons at high familial risk for MDD. This study aimed to directly explore the joint value of alpha and R/S on predicting clinical health outcome measures of depression. Methods: Using a mixed-effects model approach, we obtained virtual estimates of R/S at age 21 using data collected at 5 different timepoints spanning 25 years. Current source density and frequency principal component analysis was used to quantify posterior alpha in 72-channel resting EEG. Depression severity was measured with PHQ-9 and IDAS-GD scales obtained between 5 and 10 years after EEG collection. Results: Supporting previous findings, greater R/S (p = .008, ES = 0.076) and alpha (p = .02, ES = 0.056) were separately associated with fewer symptoms. However, greater alpha combined with greater R/S predicted more symptoms, and vice versa (p = .02, ES = 0.062). This interaction between alpha and R/S was observed across both clinical scales and all alpha measures (overall, net, eyes closed). Conclusions: Findings revealed a complementary role of R/S and alpha in that either variable exerted protective effects only if the other was present at low levels. Despite the small-tomedium effect sizes, these findings suggest a more nuanced relationship between R/S importance, alpha oscillations, and depression symptom severity that can potentially inform future research on the neurobiological mechanism underlying the protective effects of R/S importance for MDD.

Key Words: Depression Symptoms, Posterior EEG Alpha, Religion/Spirituality, Mixed-Effect Model

[Supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (MH36197) and the John F. Templeton Foundation (#54679 and #61330)].

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.02.830