TY - JOUR
T1 - Mother's and children's ADHD genetic risk, household chaos and children's ADHD symptoms
T2 - A gene–environment correlation study
AU - Agnew-Blais, Jessica C.
AU - Wertz, Jasmin
AU - Arseneault, Louise
AU - Belsky, Daniel W.
AU - Danese, Andrea
AU - Pingault, Jean Baptiste
AU - Polanczyk, Guilherme V.
AU - Sugden, Karen
AU - Williams, Benjamin
AU - Moffitt, Terrie E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The Environmental Risk (E‐Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study is funded by the UK Medical Research Council (UKMRC grant G1002190). Additional support was provided by the US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) grant HD077482 and by the Jacobs Foundation. J.A‐B. was supported by an MRC Skills Development Fellowship. L.A. is the Mental Health Leadership Fellow for the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). J.W. received support from an AXA Research Fund postdoctoral fellowship. D.W.B. received support from the Jacobs Foundation, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Child Brain Development Network and the Russell Sage Foundation (grant 1810‐08987) J‐B.P. is supported by the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant 863981) and the Medical Research Foundation 2018 Emerging Leaders 1st Prize in Adolescent Mental Health (MRF‐160‐002‐ELP‐PINGA). G.V.P. is supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, 2016/22455‐8) and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq, 310582/2017‐2). A.D. is part funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust and King's College London. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the UK National Health Service, NIHR, MRC, or King's College London.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Background: Chaotic home environments may contribute to children's attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. However, ADHD genetic risk may also influence household chaos. This study investigated whether children in chaotic households had more ADHD symptoms, if mothers and children with higher ADHD genetic risk lived in more chaotic households, and the joint association of genetic risk and household chaos on the longitudinal course of ADHD symptoms across childhood. Methods: Participants were mothers and children from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a UK population-representative birth cohort of 2,232 twins. Children's ADHD symptoms were assessed at ages 5, 7, 10 and 12 years. Household chaos was rated by research workers at ages 7, 10 and 12, and by mother's and twin's self-report at age 12. Genome-wide ADHD polygenic risk scores (PRS) were calculated for mothers (n = 880) and twins (n = 1,999); of these, n = 871 mothers and n = 1,925 children had information on children's ADHD and household chaos. Results: Children in more chaotic households had higher ADHD symptoms. Mothers and children with higher ADHD PRS lived in more chaotic households. Children's ADHD PRS was associated with household chaos over and above mother's PRS, suggesting evocative gene–environment correlation. Children in more chaotic households had higher baseline ADHD symptoms and a slower rate of decline in symptoms. However, sensitivity analyses estimated that gene–environment correlation accounted for a large proportion of the association of household chaos on ADHD symptoms. Conclusions: Children's ADHD genetic risk was independently associated with higher levels of household chaos, emphasising the active role of children in shaping their home environment. Our findings suggest that household chaos partly reflects children's genetic risk for ADHD, calling into question whether household chaos directly influences children's core ADHD symptoms. Our findings highlight the importance of considering parent and child genetic risk in relation to apparent environmental exposures.
AB - Background: Chaotic home environments may contribute to children's attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. However, ADHD genetic risk may also influence household chaos. This study investigated whether children in chaotic households had more ADHD symptoms, if mothers and children with higher ADHD genetic risk lived in more chaotic households, and the joint association of genetic risk and household chaos on the longitudinal course of ADHD symptoms across childhood. Methods: Participants were mothers and children from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a UK population-representative birth cohort of 2,232 twins. Children's ADHD symptoms were assessed at ages 5, 7, 10 and 12 years. Household chaos was rated by research workers at ages 7, 10 and 12, and by mother's and twin's self-report at age 12. Genome-wide ADHD polygenic risk scores (PRS) were calculated for mothers (n = 880) and twins (n = 1,999); of these, n = 871 mothers and n = 1,925 children had information on children's ADHD and household chaos. Results: Children in more chaotic households had higher ADHD symptoms. Mothers and children with higher ADHD PRS lived in more chaotic households. Children's ADHD PRS was associated with household chaos over and above mother's PRS, suggesting evocative gene–environment correlation. Children in more chaotic households had higher baseline ADHD symptoms and a slower rate of decline in symptoms. However, sensitivity analyses estimated that gene–environment correlation accounted for a large proportion of the association of household chaos on ADHD symptoms. Conclusions: Children's ADHD genetic risk was independently associated with higher levels of household chaos, emphasising the active role of children in shaping their home environment. Our findings suggest that household chaos partly reflects children's genetic risk for ADHD, calling into question whether household chaos directly influences children's core ADHD symptoms. Our findings highlight the importance of considering parent and child genetic risk in relation to apparent environmental exposures.
KW - ADHD
KW - early life experience
KW - family factors
KW - genetics
KW - longitudinal studies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127280290&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jcpp.13659
DO - 10.1111/jcpp.13659
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85127280290
SN - 0021-9630
VL - 63
SP - 1153
EP - 1163
JO - Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines
JF - Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines
IS - 10
ER -
