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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: [email protected])
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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 

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