A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

Jessie R Baldwin; Hannah M Sallis; Tabea Schoeler; Mark J Taylor; Alex S F Kwong; Jorim J Tielbeek; Wikus Barkhuizen; Varun Warrier; Laura D Howe; Andrea Danese; Eamon McCrory; Fruhling Rijsdijk; Henrik Larsson; Sebastian Lundström; Robert Karlsson; Paul Lichtenstein; Marcus Munafò; Jean-Baptiste Pingault

doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01482-9

A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

Nat Hum Behav. 2023 Feb;7(2):269-290. doi: 10.1038/s41562-022-01482-9. Epub 2022 Dec 8.

Authors

Jessie R Baldwin^{1

2}, Hannah M Sallis^{3

4

5

6}, Tabea Schoeler⁷, Mark J Taylor⁸, Alex S F Kwong^{3

9}, Jorim J Tielbeek¹⁰, Wikus Barkhuizen⁷, Varun Warrier¹¹, Laura D Howe³, Andrea Danese^{12

13

14}, Eamon McCrory^{7

15}, Fruhling Rijsdijk¹⁶, Henrik Larsson^{8

17}, Sebastian Lundström^{18

19}, Robert Karlsson⁸, Paul Lichtenstein⁸, Marcus Munafò^{3

4

5}, Jean-Baptiste Pingault^{7

12}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK. j.baldwin@ucl.ac.uk.
² Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. j.baldwin@ucl.ac.uk.
³ MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁴ School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁵ NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁶ Centre for Academic Mental Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁷ Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
⁸ Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁹ Division of Psychiatry, Edinburgh Medical School, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
¹⁰ CNCR, Amsterdam Neuroscience Campus, VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹² Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
¹³ Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
¹⁴ National and Specialist CAMHS Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression Clinic, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
¹⁵ Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, UK.
¹⁶ Psychology Department, Faculty of Social Sciences, Anton de Kom University, Paramaribo, Suriname.
¹⁷ School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
¹⁸ Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
¹⁹ Centre for Ethics, Law and Mental Health (CELAM), Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Abstract

Children who experience adversities have an elevated risk of mental health problems. However, the extent to which adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cause mental health problems remains unclear, as previous associations may partly reflect genetic confounding. In this Registered Report, we used DNA from 11,407 children from the United Kingdom and the United States to investigate gene-environment correlations and genetic confounding of the associations between ACEs and mental health. Regarding gene-environment correlations, children with higher polygenic scores for mental health problems had a small increase in odds of ACEs. Regarding genetic confounding, elevated risk of mental health problems in children exposed to ACEs was at least partially due to pre-existing genetic risk. However, some ACEs (such as childhood maltreatment and parental mental illness) remained associated with mental health problems independent of genetic confounding. These findings suggest that interventions addressing heritable psychiatric vulnerabilities in children exposed to ACEs may help reduce their risk of mental health problems.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adverse Childhood Experiences*
Child
Humans
Mental Disorders* / psychology
Mental Health
Parents
Risk Factors
United States

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding