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Inherited and environmental influences on a childhood co-occurring symptom phenotype: Evidence from an adoption study

Leslie E Roos1, Philip A Fisher1, Daniel S Shaw2

  • 1University of Oregon.

Development and Psychopathology
|April 9, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Identifying unique risk factors for co-occurring childhood internalizing and externalizing symptoms is crucial. Uninvolved parenting and slower processing speed in birth mothers, alongside adoptive mothers

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Genetics

Background:

  • Co-occurring internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children present a significant clinical challenge with poorly understood developmental pathways.
  • This phenotype is prevalent and associated with adverse long-term outcomes, necessitating research into its underlying risk factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate inherited and environmental risk factors contributing to the development of co-occurring internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children.
  • To differentiate risk profiles for internalizing-only, externalizing-only, and co-occurring symptom phenotypes.

Main Methods:

  • Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze data from a sample of adopted children (N=293) and their birth and adoptive mothers.
  • Examined predictors included birth mothers' processing speed and internalizing symptoms, and adoptive mothers' processing speed, internalizing symptoms, and parenting style (uninvolved parenting).

Main Results:

  • A distinct pattern of risk factors predicted the co-occurring phenotype: uninvolved parenting by adoptive mothers, slower processing speed in birth mothers, and a combination of birth mothers' slower processing speed with adoptive mothers' higher internalizing symptoms.
  • When children with co-occurring symptoms were analyzed separately, unique risk factors for internalizing and externalizing symptoms emerged, differing from combined analyses.

Conclusions:

  • Treating co-occurring symptoms as a unique phenotype is essential for accurate identification of risk factors, avoiding potentially misleading results from combined analyses.
  • Findings highlight the complex interplay of genetic and environmental influences, involving both birth and adoptive maternal factors, in the development of childhood behavioral and emotional problems.

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