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Continuity and Change in Preschool ADHD Symptoms: Longitudinal Genetic Analysis with Contrast Effects

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Abstract

The genetic and environmental mediation of continuity and change in parent-reported ADHD symptoms were investigated in a cohort of over 6000 twin pairs at 2, 3 and 4 years of age. Genetic analyses of the cross-sectional data yielded heritability estimates of 0.78–0.81 at each age, with contrast effects. A common pathway model provided the best fit to the longitudinal data, indicating that genetic influences underlie 91% of the stable variance in ADHD symptomatology. In other words, what is stable for ADHD symptoms is largely genetic. Contrast effects acting in the same direction at different ages contributed to the observed continuity:longitudinal correlations were greater for dizygotic than monozygotic twins.

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Abbreviations

ADHD:

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

TEDS:

Twins Early Development Study

MZ:

monozygotic

DZ:

dizygotic

DZSS:

dizygotic same sex

DZOS:

dizygotic opposite sex

CBCL:

Child Behavior Checklist

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, UK

    Thomas S. Price

  2. Social, Developmental an Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

    Emily Simonoff, Philip Asherson, Sarah Curran, Jonna Kuntsi & Robert Plomin

  3. Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Irwin Waldman

  4. Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt, Drive, OX3 7BN, UK

    Thomas S. Price & Irwin Waldman

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  1. Thomas S. Price
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  2. Emily Simonoff
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  3. Philip Asherson
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  4. Sarah Curran
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  5. Jonna Kuntsi
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  6. Irwin Waldman
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  7. Robert Plomin
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Correspondence to Thomas S. Price.

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The Twins Early Development Study is funded by the Medical Research Council.

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Price, T.S., Simonoff, E., Asherson, P. et al. Continuity and Change in Preschool ADHD Symptoms: Longitudinal Genetic Analysis with Contrast Effects. Behav Genet 35, 121–132 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-004-1013-x

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