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Genetic and environmental influences on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in Chinese adolescents: a longitudinal twin study

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Abstract

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder. However, no study has examined genetic and environmental influences in the longitudinal developmental course of ADHD symptoms in a non-Western population. This study investigated changes of genetic and environmental influences and their contributions to the stability and change of ADHD symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention in Chinese adolescent twins. A prospective sample of 602 twin pairs (48% male) self-reported both DSM-IV ADHD symptom subscales three times at the approximate age of 12, 13, and 15 years. Longitudinal multivariate genetic analyses through structural equation modelling examined genetic and environmental contributions to the developmental course of ADHD symptoms. From early (time 1 and 2) to middle adolescence (time 3), both symptoms showed modest and non-significant genetic influences that became substantial and significant, whereas shared environmental influences were substantial and significant and became modest and non-significant. The same genetic factors influenced ADHD symptoms throughout adolescence, while shared and non-shared environmental influences largely came from new emerging factors. In early adolescence, genetic factor contributed to the stability of inattention, whereas shared environmental factor contributed to the stability of hyperactivity/impulsivity. Genetic influences of ADHD tended to be smaller, whereas shared environmental influences tended to be larger in Chinese than in Western populations. Genetic factors played a large role in the stability of ADHD throughout adolescence, while shared and non-shared environment primarily contributed to its change. Findings highlight the importance of shared family, neighbourhood, and community experiences on child psychopathology in a collectivistic culture such as the Chinese society.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Cancer Institute Grant #5P50CA084735 (to Dr. Unger).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, P-217 Biological Sciences Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada

    Yao Zheng

  2. Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK

    Jean-Baptiste Pingault

  3. Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’S College London, London, UK

    Jean-Baptiste Pingault & Frühling Rijsdijk

  4. Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Jennifer B. Unger

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  1. Yao Zheng
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  2. Jean-Baptiste Pingault
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  3. Jennifer B. Unger
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  4. Frühling Rijsdijk
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Correspondence to Yao Zheng.

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This work was approved by the appropriate ethics committee. The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. All participants and their parents gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study.

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Zheng, Y., Pingault, JB., Unger, J.B. et al. Genetic and environmental influences on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms in Chinese adolescents: a longitudinal twin study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 29, 205–216 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-019-01346-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-019-01346-0

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