Abstract
Background Several longitudinal studies have cast doubt on the aetiological overlap between child and adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, a lack of genetically sensitive data following children across adulthood precludes direct evaluation of aetiological overlap between child and adult ADHD. Aims We circumvent the existing gap in longitudinal data by exploring genetic overlap between maternal (adult) and offspring (child) ADHD and comorbid symptoms in an extended family cohort. Method Data were drawn from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study, a Norwegian birth registry cohort of 114 500 children and their parents. Medical Birth Registry of Norway data were used to link extended families. Mothers self-reported their own ADHD symptoms when children were aged 3 years; reported children's ADHD symptoms at age 5 years; and children's ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder, anxiety and depression symptoms at age 8 years. Genetic correlations were derived from Multiple-Children-of-Twins-and-Siblings and extended bivariate twin models. Results Phenotypic correlations between adult ADHD symptoms and child ADHD, ODD, conduct disorder, anxiety and depression symptoms at age 8 years were underpinned by medium-to-large genetic correlations (child ADHD: rG = 0.55, 95% CI 0.43-0.93; ODD: rG = 0.80, 95% CI 0.46-1; conduct disorder: rG = 0.44, 95% CI 0.28-1; anxiety: rG = 0.72, 95% CI 0.48-1; depression: rG = 1, 95% CI 0.66-1). These cross-generational adult-child genetic correlations were of a comparable magnitude to equivalent child-child genetic correlations with ADHD symptoms at age 5 years. Conclusions Our findings provide genetically sensitive evidence that ADHD symptoms in adulthood share a common genetic architecture with symptoms of ADHD and four comorbid disorders at age 8 years. These findings suggest that in the majority of cases, ADHD symptoms in adulthood are not aetiologically distinct from in childhood.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e169 |
| Journal | BJPsych Open |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 6 Sept 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:D.L.W. was supported by the UK Medical Research Council (grant number MR/N013700/1) and King's College London MRC Doctoral Training Partnership in Biomedical Sciences. The positions of T.A.M. and Y.I.A. were funded by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship awarded to T.A.M., jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society (grant number 107706/Z/15/Z), and by a Senior Research Fellowship awarded to T.A.M. and funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant number 220382/Z/20/Z). The Research Council of Norway supported E.Y. and T.A.M. (grant number 288083), and E.M.E. (grant number 262177). I.B. was supported by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and King's College London ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership in Interdisciplinary Social Science (grant number ST11872). L.J.H. was supported by a grant from the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (grant number 2018059). The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study data collection was supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Education and Research, National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH/NIEHS) (contract N01-ES-75558) and National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH/NINDS) (grant numbers 1 UO1 NS 047537-01 and 2 UO1 NS 047537-06A1). The funders of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation or writing of the report.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Keywords
- aetiology
- attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders
- Comorbidity
- genetics
- Medical Birth Registry of Norway