A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

Jessie R. Baldwin; Hannah M Sallis; Tabea Schoeler; Alex Siu Fung Kwong; Laura D Howe; Marcus R Munafo

doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01482-9

A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

Jessie R. Baldwin^*, Hannah M Sallis, Tabea Schoeler, Alex Siu Fung Kwong, Laura D Howe, Marcus R Munafo

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

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Abstract

Children who experience adversities have an elevated risk of mental health problems. However, the extent to which adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cause mental health problems remains unclear, as previous associations may partly reflect genetic confounding. In this Registered Report, we used DNA from 11,407 children from the United Kingdom and the United States to investigate gene–environment correlations and genetic confounding of the associations between ACEs and mental health. Regarding gene–environment correlations, children with higher polygenic scores for mental health problems had a small increase in odds of ACEs. Regarding genetic confounding, elevated risk of mental health problems in children exposed to ACEs was at least partially due to pre-existing genetic risk. However, some ACEs (such as childhood maltreatment and parental mental illness) remained associated with mental health problems independent of genetic confounding. These findings suggest that interventions addressing heritable psychiatric vulnerabilities in children exposed to ACEs may help reduce their risk of mental health problems.

Original language	English
Number of pages	25
Journal	Nature Human Behaviour
Early online date	8 Dec 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01482-9
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 8 Dec 2022

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

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This is the accepted author manuscript (AAM). The final published version (version of record) is available online via Nature Research at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01482-9. Please refer to any applicable terms of use of the publisher.
Accepted author manuscript, 2.98 MBLicence: CC BY

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title = "A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health",

abstract = "Children who experience adversities have an elevated risk of mental health problems. However, the extent to which adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cause mental health problems remains unclear, as previous associations may partly reflect genetic confounding. In this Registered Report, we used DNA from 11,407 children from the United Kingdom and the United States to investigate gene–environment correlations and genetic confounding of the associations between ACEs and mental health. Regarding gene–environment correlations, children with higher polygenic scores for mental health problems had a small increase in odds of ACEs. Regarding genetic confounding, elevated risk of mental health problems in children exposed to ACEs was at least partially due to pre-existing genetic risk. However, some ACEs (such as childhood maltreatment and parental mental illness) remained associated with mental health problems independent of genetic confounding. These findings suggest that interventions addressing heritable psychiatric vulnerabilities in children exposed to ACEs may help reduce their risk of mental health problems.",

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AU - Baldwin, Jessie R.

AU - Sallis, Hannah M

AU - Schoeler, Tabea

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AU - Howe, Laura D

AU - Munafo, Marcus R

PY - 2022/12/8

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N2 - Children who experience adversities have an elevated risk of mental health problems. However, the extent to which adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cause mental health problems remains unclear, as previous associations may partly reflect genetic confounding. In this Registered Report, we used DNA from 11,407 children from the United Kingdom and the United States to investigate gene–environment correlations and genetic confounding of the associations between ACEs and mental health. Regarding gene–environment correlations, children with higher polygenic scores for mental health problems had a small increase in odds of ACEs. Regarding genetic confounding, elevated risk of mental health problems in children exposed to ACEs was at least partially due to pre-existing genetic risk. However, some ACEs (such as childhood maltreatment and parental mental illness) remained associated with mental health problems independent of genetic confounding. These findings suggest that interventions addressing heritable psychiatric vulnerabilities in children exposed to ACEs may help reduce their risk of mental health problems.

AB - Children who experience adversities have an elevated risk of mental health problems. However, the extent to which adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cause mental health problems remains unclear, as previous associations may partly reflect genetic confounding. In this Registered Report, we used DNA from 11,407 children from the United Kingdom and the United States to investigate gene–environment correlations and genetic confounding of the associations between ACEs and mental health. Regarding gene–environment correlations, children with higher polygenic scores for mental health problems had a small increase in odds of ACEs. Regarding genetic confounding, elevated risk of mental health problems in children exposed to ACEs was at least partially due to pre-existing genetic risk. However, some ACEs (such as childhood maltreatment and parental mental illness) remained associated with mental health problems independent of genetic confounding. These findings suggest that interventions addressing heritable psychiatric vulnerabilities in children exposed to ACEs may help reduce their risk of mental health problems.

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JO - Nature Human Behaviour

JF - Nature Human Behaviour

ER -

A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

Abstract

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