Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T05:17:08.566Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Different heritabilities but shared etiological influences for parent, teacher and self-ratings of ADHD symptoms: an adolescent twin study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2013

A. Merwood ,
C. U. Greven ,
T. S. Price ,
F. Rijsdijk ,
J. Kuntsi ,
G. McLoughlin ,
H. Larsson  and
P. J. Asherson
A. Merwood*
Affiliation:
King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
C. U. Greven
Affiliation:
King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behavior, The Netherlands
T. S. Price
Affiliation:
King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
F. Rijsdijk
Affiliation:
King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
J. Kuntsi
Affiliation:
King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
G. McLoughlin
Affiliation:
King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
H. Larsson
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Centre of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
P. J. Asherson
Affiliation:
King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Mr A. Merwood, MRC SGDP Centre, PO80, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, UK. (Email: andrew.merwood@kcl.ac.uk)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Parent and teacher ratings of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms yield high estimates of heritability whereas self-ratings typically yield lower estimates. To understand why, the present study examined the etiological overlap between parent, teacher and self-ratings of ADHD symptoms in a population-based sample of 11–12-year-old twins.

Method

Participants were from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS). ADHD symptoms were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) hyperactivity scale completed by parents, teachers and children. Structural equation modeling was used to examine genetic and environmental contributions to phenotypic variance/covariance.

Results

The broad-sense heritability of ADHD symptoms was 82% for parent ratings, 60% for teacher ratings and 48% for self-ratings. Post-hoc analyses revealed significantly higher heritability for same-teacher than different-teacher ratings of ADHD (76% v. 49%). A common pathway model best explained the relationship between different informant ratings, with common genetic influences accounting for 84% of the covariance between parent, teacher and self-rated ADHD symptoms. The remaining variance was explained by rater-specific genetic and non-shared environmental influences.

Conclusions

Despite different heritabilities, there were shared genetic influences for parent, teacher and self-ratings of ADHD symptoms, indicating that different informants rated some of the same aspects of behavior. The low heritability estimated for self-ratings and different-teacher ratings may reflect increased measurement error when different informants rate each twin from a pair, and/or greater non-shared environmental influences. Future studies into the genetic influences on ADHD should incorporate informant data in addition to self-ratings to capture a pervasive, heritable component of ADHD symptomatology.

Keywords

ADHDetiologygeneticsrater effectstwin study
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 43 , Issue 9 , September 2013 , pp. 1973 - 1984
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, TM, Rescorla, LA (2000). Manual for ASEBA School-Age Forms and Profiles. Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont: Burlington, VT.Google Scholar
APA (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn.American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Asherson, P (2005). Clinical assessment and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics 5, 525–539.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boomsma, DI, Saviouk, V, Hottenga, JJ, Distel, MA, de Moor, MH, Vink, JM, Geels, LM, van Beek, JH, Bartels, M, de Geus, EJ, Willemsen, G (2010). Genetic epidemiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD index) in adults. PLoS One 5, e10621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burt, SA (2009). Rethinking environmental contributions to child and adolescent psychopathology: a meta-analysis of shared environmental influences. Psychological Bulletin 135, 608–637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, W, Zhou, K, Sham, P, Franke, B, Kuntsi, J, Campbell, D, Fleischman, K, Knight, J, Andreou, P, Arnold, R, Altink, M, Boer, F, Boholst, MJ, Buschgens, C, Butler, L, Christiansen, H, Fliers, E, Howe-Forbes, R, Gabriëls, I, Heise, A, Korn-Lubetzki, I, Marco, R, Medad, S, Minderaa, R, Müller, UC, Mulligan, A, Psychogiou, L, Rommelse, N, Sethna, V, Uebel, H, McGuffin, P, Plomin, R, Banaschewski, T, Buitelaar, J, Ebstein, R, Eisenberg, J, Gill, M, Manor, I, Miranda, A, Mulas, F, Oades, RD, Roeyers, H, Rothenberger, A, Sergeant, J, Sonuga-Barke, E, Steinhausen, HC, Taylor, E, Thompson, M, Faraone, SV, Asherson, P (2008). DSM-IV combined type ADHD shows familial association with sibling trait scores: a sampling strategy for QTL linkage. American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric Genetics 147, 1450–1460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, OSP, Arden, R, Plomin, R (2008). g in middle childhood: moderate genetic and shared environmental influence using diverse measures of general cognitive ability at 7, 9 and 10 years in a large population sample of twins. Intelligence 36, 68–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derks, EM, Hudziak, JJ, Van Beijsterveldt, CE, Dolan, CV, Boomsma, DI (2006). Genetic analyses of maternal and teacher ratings on attention problems in 7-year-old Dutch twins. Behavior Genetics 36, 833–844.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ehringer, MA, Rhee, SH, Young, S, Corley, R, Hewitt, JK (2006). Genetic and environmental contributions to common psychopathologies of childhood and adolescence: a study of twins and their siblings. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 34, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Faraone, SV, Biederman, J, Mick, E (2006). The age-dependent decline of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analysis of follow-up studies. Psychological Medicine 36, 159–165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, R (2001). Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 40, 1337–1345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greven, CU, Asherson, P, Rijsdijk, FV, Plomin, R (2011 a). A longitudinal twin study on the association between inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 39, 623–632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greven, CU, Rijsdijk, FV, Plomin, R (2011 b). A twin study of ADHD symptoms in early adolescence: hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattentiveness show substantial genetic overlap but also genetic specificity. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 39, 265–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haberstick, BC, Timberlake, D, Hopfer, CJ, Lessem, JM, Ehringer, MA, Hewitt, JK (2008). Genetic and environmental contributions to retrospectively reported DSM-IV childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Psychological Medicine 38, 1057–1066.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartman, CA, Rhee, SH, Willcutt, EG, Pennington, BF (2007). Modeling rater disagreement for ADHD: are parents or teachers biased? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 35, 536–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hewitt, JK, Silberg, JL, Neale, MC, Eaves, LJ, Erickson, M (1992). The analysis of parental ratings of children's behavior using LISREL. Behavior Genetics 22, 293–317.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamb, DJ, Middeldorp, CM, Van Beijsterveldt, CE, Boomsma, DI (2012). Gene–environment interaction in teacher-rated internalizing and externalizing problem behavior in 7- to 12-year-old twins. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 53, 818–825.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larsson, H, Anckarsäter, H, Råstam, M, Chang, Z, Lichtenstein, P (2012 a). Childhood attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as an extreme of a continuous trait: a quantitative genetic study of 8,500 twin pairs. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 53, 73–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsson, H, Asherson, P, Chang, Z, Ljung, T, Friedrichs, B, Larsson, JO, Lichtenstein, P (2012 b). Genetic and environmental influences on adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms: a large Swedish population-based study of twins. Psychological Medicine. Published online: 6 August 2012. doi:10.1017/S0033291712001067.Google ScholarPubMed
Loehlin, JC (1996). The Cholesky approach: a cautionary note. Behavior Genetics 26, 65–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, N, Scourfield, J, McGuffin, P (2002). Observer effects and heritability of childhood attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms. British Journal of Psychiatry 180, 260–265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGue, M, Bouchard, TJ Jr. (1984). Adjustment of twin data for the effects of age and sex. Behavior Genetics 14, 325–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McLoughlin, G, Rijsdijk, F, Asherson, P, Kuntsi, J (2011). Parents and teachers make different contributions to a shared perspective on hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive symptoms: a multivariate analysis of parent and teacher ratings on the symptom domains of ADHD. Behavior Genetics 41, 668–669.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nadder, TS, Rutter, M, Silberg, JL, Maes, HH, Eaves, LJ (2002). Genetic effects on the variation and covariation of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional-defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) symptomatologies across informant and occasion of measurement. Psychological Medicine 32, 39–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neale, MC (1997). Mx: Statistical Modeling, 4th edn.Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Virginia: Richmond, VA.Google Scholar
Neale, MC, Miller, MB (1997). The use of likelihood-based confidence intervals in genetic models. Behavior Genetics 27, 113–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nikolas, MA, Burt, SA (2010). Genetic and environmental influences on ADHD symptom dimensions of inattention and hyperactivity: a meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 119, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oliver, BR, Plomin, R (2007). Twins’ Early Development Study (TEDS): a multivariate, longitudinal genetic investigation of language, cognition and behavior problems from childhood through adolescence. Twin Research and Human Genetics 10, 96–105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plomin, R, DeFries, JC, McClearn, GE, McGuffin, P (2008). Behavioral Genetics. Worth Publishers: New York.Google Scholar
Price, TS, Freeman, B, Craig, I, Petrill, SA, Ebersole, L, Plomin, R (2000). Infant zygosity can be assigned by parental report questionnaire data. Twin Research 3, 129–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Price, TS, Simonoff, E, Asherson, P, Curran, S, Kuntsi, J, Waldman, I, Plomin, R (2005). Continuity and change in preschool ADHD symptoms: longitudinal genetic analysis with contrast effects. Behavior Genetics 35, 121–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Price, TS, Simonoff, E, Waldman, I, Asherson, P, Plomin, R (2001). Hyperactivity in preschool children is highly heritable. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 40, 1362–1364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raftery, AE (1995). Bayesian model selection in social research. Sociological Methodology 25, 111–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rietveld, MJH, Posthuma, D, Dolan, CV, Boomsma, DI (2003). ADHD: sibling interaction or dominance: an evaluation of statistical power. Behavior Genetics 33, 247–255.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saudino, KJ, Ronald, A, Plomin, R (2005). The etiology of behavior problems in 7-year-old twins: substantial genetic influence and negligible shared environmental influence for parent ratings and ratings by same and different teachers. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 33, 113–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saviouk, V, Hottenga, JJ, Slagboom, EP, Distel, MA, de Geus, EJ, Willemsen, G, Boomsma, DI (2011). ADHD in Dutch adults: heritability and linkage study. American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric Genetics 156B, 352–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schultz, MR, Rabi, K, Faraone, SV, Kremen, W, Lyons, MJ (2006). Efficacy of retrospective recall of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms: a twin study. Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 220–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simonoff, E, Pickles, A, Hervas, A, Silberg, JL, Rutter, M, Eaves, L (1998). Genetic influences on childhood hyperactivity: contrast effects imply parental rating bias, not sibling interaction. Psychological Medicine 28, 825–837.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
StataCorp (2007). Stata Statistical Software: Release 10. StataCorp LP: College Station, TX.Google Scholar
Thapar, A, Harrington, R, Ross, K, McGuffin, P (2000). Does the definition of ADHD affect heritability? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 39, 1528–1536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Den Berg, SM, Willemsen, G, De Geus, EJC, Boomsma, DI (2006). Genetic etiology of stability of attention problems in young adulthood. American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric Genetics 141B, 55–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Roy, B, Veenstra, M, Clench-Aas, J (2008). Construct validity of the five-factor Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in pre-, early, and late adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 49, 1304–1312.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, RL (2000). A note on robust variance estimation for cluster-correlated data. Biometrics 56, 645–646.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wood, AC, Buitelaar, J, Rijsdijk, F, Asherson, P, Kuntsi, J (2010). Rethinking shared environment as a source of variance underlying attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms: comment on Burt (2009). Psychological Bulletin 136, 331–340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, SE, Stallings, MC, Corley, RP, Krauter, KS, Hewitt, JK (2000). Genetic and environmental influences on behavioral disinhibition. American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric Genetics 96, 684–695.3.0.CO;2-G>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Merwood Supplementary Material

Appendix

Download Merwood Supplementary Material(File)
File 223.7 KB