Abstract
We estimated the genetic covariance matrix among four inattention (INATT) and four hyperactivity (HYP) measures in the classical twin design. Data on INATT and HYP symptom counts were obtained in mono- and dizygotic twin pairs (N = 1593) with an average age of 12.2 years (sd =.51). We analyzed maternal ratings of INATT and HYP based on the Conners’ Parent Rating Scale (CPRS), the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD-symptoms and Normal-behavior (SWAN), and teacher ratings based on the Conners' Teacher rating scale (CTRS) and the ASEBA Teacher Rating Form (TRF). Broad-sense heritabilities, corrected for the main effects of sex and for random teacher rater effects, were large (ranging from.658 to.912). The results reveal pervasive and strong broad-sense genetic effects on INATT and HYP phenotypes with the phenotypic covariance among the phenotypes largely due to correlated genetic effects. Specifically between 79.9 and 99.9% of the phenotypic covariance among the HYP measures, and between 81.0 and 93.5% of the INATT measures are attributable to broad-sense genetic effects. Overall, the present results, pertaining to the broad-sense heritabilities and shared genetic effects, support the current genome-wide association meta-analytic approach to identifying pleiotropic genetic variants.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 273-288 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Behavior Genetics |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2020 |
Funding
We thank the participating twins, their parents, and their teachers heartily for their time and effort. We acknowledge research program ‘Consortium on Individual Development' (CID) which is funded through the Gravitation program of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO 0240-001-003); longitudinal data collection from teachers of Dutch twins and their siblings (NWO-481-08-011); twin-family-study of individual differences in school achievement (NWO-FES, 056-32-010), the European Community's Seventh Framework Program Grant 602768: ACTION; NWO-Groot 480-15-001/674: Netherlands Twin Registry Repository; NWO top-talent Grant 406-12-124; and KNAW Academy Professor Award (PAH/6635) to DIB; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institute of Mental Health Grant No. 5U01MH109539-03 (Psychiatric Genomics Consortium).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| NWO-FES | 056-32-010 |
| NWO-Groot | 406-12-124, 480-15-001/674 |
| U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institute of Mental Health | 5U01MH109539-03 |
| National Institute of Mental Health | U01MH109539 |
| Seventh Framework Programme | 602768 |
| Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen | PAH/6635 |
| Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap | |
| Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | 0240-001-003, NWO-481-08-011 |
Cohort Studies
- Netherlands Twin Register (NTR)