Genetic Associations Between Executive Functions and a General Factor of Psychopathology - 27/05/20
, Laura E. Engelhardt, PhD a, Frank D. Mann, PhD a, Megan W. Patterson, MA a, Andrew D. Grotzinger, MA a, Stephanie L. Savicki, MA a, Megan L. Thibodeaux, BA, BM a, Samantha M. Freis, BS a, Jennifer L. Tackett, PhD b, Jessica A. Church, PhD a, Elliot M. Tucker-Drob, PhD aAbstract |
Objective |
Symptoms of psychopathology covary across diagnostic boundaries, and a family history of elevated symptoms for a single psychiatric disorder places an individual at heightened risk for a broad range of other psychiatric disorders. Both twin-based and genome-wide molecular methods indicate a strong genetic basis for the familial aggregation of psychiatric disease. This has led researchers to prioritize the search for highly heritable childhood risk factors for transdiagnostic psychopathology. Cognitive abilities that involve the selective control and regulation of attention, known as executive functions (EFs), are a promising set of risk factors.
Method |
In a population-based sample of child and adolescent twins (n = 1,913, mean age = 13.1 years), we examined genetic overlap between both EFs and general intelligence (g) and a transdiagnostic dimension of vulnerability to psychopathology, comprising symptoms of anxiety, depression, neuroticism, aggression, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, hyperactivity, and inattention. Psychopathology symptoms in children were rated by children and their parents.
Results |
Latent factors representing general EF and g were highly heritable (h2 = 86%−92%), and genetic influences on both sets of cognitive abilities were robustly correlated with transdiagnostic genetic influences on psychopathology symptoms (genetic r values ranged from −0.20 to −0.38).
Conclusion |
General EF and g robustly index genetic risk for transdiagnostic symptoms of psychopathology in childhood. Delineating the developmental and neurobiological mechanisms underlying observed associations between cognitive abilities and psychopathology remains a priority for ongoing research.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Key words : genetics, psychiatric comorbidity, executive functions
Plan
| Drs. Harden and Tucker-Drob are Faculty Research Associates of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, which is supported by a grant, 5-R24-HD042849, from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Drs. Harden and Tucker-Drob are also supported by Jacobs Foundation Research Fellowships. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health grant R01HD083613. |
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| Drs. Harden and Tucker-Drob served as the statistical experts for this research. |
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| Disclosure: Drs. Harden, Engelhardt, Mann, Tackett, Church, Tucker-Drob, Mss. Patterson, Savicki, Thibodeaux, Fries, and Mr. Grotzinger have reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. |
Vol 59 - N° 6
P. 749-758 - juin 2020 Retour au numéro
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