Polygenic Scores and Environmental Factors in Psychiatric Disorders: Gene–Environment Interaction Analyses Using the iPSYCH Study

Polygenic Scores and Environmental Factors in Psychiatric Disorders: Gene–Environment Interaction Analyses Using the iPSYCH Study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Polygenic Scores and Environmental Factors in Psychiatric Disorders: Gene–Environment Interaction Analyses Using the iPSYCH Study Tahereh Gholipourshahraki, Linda Ejlskov, Birgitte Semark, Genona Maseras, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8201911/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: Psychiatric disorders represent a significant global health burden with complex etiologies involving both genetic and environmental factors. However, while the main effects of genetic and environmental factors are frequently studied, their interplay in shaping psychiatric disorder risk remains poorly understood. This study investigates the interaction between polygenic scores (PGS) as proxies for genetic risk and environmental factors in the risk of psychiatric disorders. Method: This study utilized the iPSYCH case-cohort sample (n = 141,265). Environmental factors, including region, urbanicity, parental socioeconomic status, parental age, parental psychiatric history and early-life exposures: autoimmune disease, brain injury, and central nervous system (CNS) infections, were obtained from Danish nationwide registers. Logistic regression was used to examine the effects of targeted disorder-specific PGSs, environmental factors and their interactions on psychiatric disorders. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex and ancestral principal components to account for population stratification. Results: Both PGS and environmental factors were associated with psychiatric disorders. We found limited evidence of gene–environment interactions across the investigated psychiatric disorders. Most interaction terms were small and not statistically significant, but a few remained significant. These included a smaller PGS association with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Southern Denmark compared with the Capital Region, a reduced PGS association with bipolar disorder in the medium and lowest parental income groups compared with the highest income group, and a weaker PGS association with major depressive disorder in individuals with parental psychiatric history compared with those without such history. In contrast, a larger PGS association with schizophrenia was observed in the paternal age group 31–35 years compared with the 26–30 years reference group, and a stronger PGS association with anorexia nervosa in North Denmark compared with the Capital Region. Conclusion: Genetic liability for psychiatric disorders, captured through PGS, was associated with mental disorder risk across environmental contexts. Only a few gene–environment interactions were significant, and these were modest and mental disorder-specific. Overall, the findings highlight the difficulty of detecting robust gene–environment interactions and the need for studies of sufficient scale and statistical power to identify subtle gene–environment effects and improve understanding of psychiatric disorder etiology. Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/ADHD Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/Depression Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/Autism spectrum disorders Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/Schizophrenia Biological sciences/Genetics/Neurodevelopmental disorders/ADHD Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. CMB reports receiving royalties from Pearson Education Inc. (author) and serving as a consultant for Orbimed. Supplementary Files S1Table.docx Dataset 1 S2Table.xlsx Dateset 2 SupplementoryFigures.pdf Dataset 3 nrreportingsummary.pdf Reporting Summary Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8201911","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":555178167,"identity":"266291c8-9ab2-4f0b-a8f2-595e46256f3e","order_by":0,"name":"Tahereh 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(author) and serving as a consultant for Orbimed.","formattedTitle":"Polygenic Scores and Environmental Factors in Psychiatric Disorders: Gene–Environment Interaction Analyses Using the iPSYCH Study","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8201911/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8201911/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBackground: Psychiatric disorders represent a significant global health burden with complex etiologies involving both genetic and environmental factors. However, while the main effects of genetic and environmental factors are frequently studied, their interplay in shaping psychiatric disorder risk remains poorly understood. This study investigates the interaction between polygenic scores (PGS) as proxies for genetic risk and environmental factors in the risk of psychiatric disorders.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMethod: This study utilized the iPSYCH case-cohort sample (n = 141,265). Environmental factors, including region, urbanicity, parental socioeconomic status, parental age, parental psychiatric history and early-life exposures: autoimmune disease, brain injury, and central nervous system (CNS) infections, were obtained from Danish nationwide registers. Logistic regression was used to examine the effects of targeted disorder-specific PGSs, environmental factors and their interactions on psychiatric disorders. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex and ancestral principal components to account for population stratification.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResults: Both PGS and environmental factors were associated with psychiatric disorders. We found limited evidence of gene–environment interactions across the investigated psychiatric disorders. Most interaction terms were small and not statistically significant, but a few remained significant. These included a smaller PGS association with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Southern Denmark compared with the Capital Region, a reduced PGS association with bipolar disorder in the medium and lowest parental income groups compared with the highest income group, and a weaker PGS association with major depressive disorder in individuals with parental psychiatric history compared with those without such history. In contrast, a larger PGS association with schizophrenia was observed in the paternal age group 31–35 years compared with the 26–30 years reference group, and a stronger PGS association with anorexia nervosa in North Denmark compared with the Capital Region.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusion: Genetic liability for psychiatric disorders, captured through PGS, was associated with mental disorder risk across environmental contexts. Only a few gene–environment interactions were significant, and these were modest and mental disorder-specific. Overall, the findings highlight the difficulty of detecting robust gene–environment interactions and the need for studies of sufficient scale and statistical power to identify subtle gene–environment effects and improve understanding of psychiatric disorder etiology.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Polygenic Scores and Environmental Factors in Psychiatric Disorders: Gene–Environment Interaction Analyses Using the iPSYCH Study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-05 08:25:47","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8201911/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"a8031e34-0385-4b03-8132-e4a40a38c639","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 5th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":59083619,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/ADHD"},{"id":59083620,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/Depression"},{"id":59083621,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/Autism spectrum disorders"},{"id":59083622,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases/Psychiatric disorders/Schizophrenia"},{"id":59083623,"name":"Biological sciences/Genetics/Neurodevelopmental disorders/ADHD"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-14T16:25:24+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-05 08:25:47","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8201911","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8201911","identity":"rs-8201911","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}