Schizophrenia typically onsets after puberty but is often preceded by observable childhood neurodevelopmental impairments. Whether these childhood antecedents index genetic liability is unknown. We ...used polygenic risk scores derived from a patient discovery sample as indicators of the genetic liability of schizophrenia. Our aim was to identify the early childhood manifestations of this liability in a UK population-based cohort.
The study sample was the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a prospective population-based cohort study of 14701 children. Data were primarily analysed with regression-based analyses. Polygenic risk score were generated from a published Psychiatric Genomics Consortium genome-wide association study. Outcomes were childhood (age 4-9 years) dimensional measures in four developmental domains with 12 indicators: cognition and learning, social and communication, emotion and mood regulation, and behaviour (n=5100-6952).
At age 7-9 years, schizophrenia polygenic risk scores showed associations with lower performance intelligence quotient (β -0·056, OR 1·13 95% CI 1·04-1·23), poorer social understanding (β -0·032, OR 1·08 1·00-1·17), worse language intelligibility and fluency (β -0·032, OR 1·10 1·02-1·20), more irritability (β 0·032, OR 1·07 1·01-1·14), and more headstrong behaviour (β 0·031, OR 1·08 1·02-1·15). The schizophrenia polygenic risk scores also predicted social and behavioural impairments as early as age 4 years.
Childhood cognitive, social, behavioural, and emotional impairments, implicated as antecedents to schizophrenia in high-risk, developmental studies, might represent early manifestations of genetic liability.
Medical Research Council.
Depression is common, especially in women of child-bearing age; prevalence estimates for this group range from 8% to 12%, and there is robust evidence that maternal depression is associated with ...mental health problems in offspring. Suicidal behaviour is a growing concern amongst young people and those exposed to maternal depression are likely to be especially at high risk. The aim of this study was to utilise a large, prospective population cohort to examine the relationship between depression symptom trajectories in mothers over the first eleven years of their child's life and subsequent adolescent suicidal ideation. An additional aim was to test if associations were explained by maternal suicide attempt and offspring depressive disorder. Data were utilised from a population-based birth cohort: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Maternal depression symptoms were assessed repeatedly from pregnancy to child age 11 years. Offspring suicidal ideation was assessed at age 16 years. Using multiple imputation, data for 10,559 families were analysed. Using latent class growth analysis, five distinct classes of maternal depression symptoms were identified (minimal, mild, increasing, sub-threshold, chronic-severe). The prevalence of past-year suicidal ideation at age 16 years was 15% (95% CI: 14-17%). Compared to offspring of mothers with minimal symptoms, the greatest risk of suicidal ideation was found for offspring of mothers with chronic-severe symptoms OR 3.04 (95% CI 2.19, 4.21), with evidence for smaller increases in risk of suicidal ideation in offspring of mothers with sub-threshold, increasing and mild symptoms. These associations were not fully accounted for by maternal suicide attempt or offspring depression diagnosis. Twenty-six percent of non-depressed offspring of mothers with chronic-severe depression symptoms reported suicidal ideation. Risk for suicidal ideation should be considered in young people whose mothers have a history of sustained high levels of depression symptoms, even when the offspring themselves do not have a depression diagnosis.
Links between maternal and offspring depression symptoms could arise from inherited factors, direct environmental exposure, or shared adversity. A novel genetically sensitive design was used to test ...the extent of environmental links between maternal depression symptoms and child depression/anxiety symptoms, accounting for inherited effects, shared adversity, and child age and gender.
Eight hundred fifty-two families with a child born by assisted conception provided questionnaire data. Mothers and fathers were genetically related or unrelated to the child depending on conception method. Parental depression symptoms were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Child depression/anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Short Mood and Feelings questionnaire and six items tapping generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. Associations between maternal and child symptoms were examined separately for genetically unrelated and related mother–child pairs, adjusting for three measurements of shared adversity: negative life events, family income, and socioeconomic status. Analyses were then run separately for boys and girls and for children and adolescents, and the role of paternal depression symptoms was also examined.
Significant associations between parent and child symptoms were found for genetically unrelated mother–child (
r = 0.32,
p < .001) and father–child (
r = 0.17,
p < .05) pairs and genetically related mother–child (
r = 0.31,
p < .001) and father–child (
r = 0.23,
p < .001) pairs and were not explained by the shared adversity measurements. Environmental links were present for children and adolescents and were stronger for girls.
The transmission of depression symptoms is due in part to environmental processes independent of inherited effects and is not accounted for by shared adversity measurements. Girls may be more sensitive to the negative effects of maternal depression symptoms than boys through environmental processes.
Parental depression is associated with a range of mental health conditions and other difficulties in the offspring. Nevertheless, some offspring exposed to parental depression do not develop mental ...health problems, indicating the presence of protective factors that may buffer parental depression-related risk effects. However, evidence of protective factors that might explain good sustained mental health in offspring of depressed parents is limited and systematic synthesis of these factors is still needed. Therefore, as far as we are aware, this will be the first systematic review that will identify parent, family, child, social, and lifestyle factors associated with mental health resilience in offspring of depressed parents, examine evidence for sex-, developmental stage-, and outcome-specific factors and define mental health resilience in the parental depression context.
This protocol has been developed according to the PRISMA-P guidelines. Electronic searches will be performed for articles published up to 2022 in PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science Core Collection, and Cochrane Library. Two reviewers will independently screen titles/abstracts and full-texts against eligibility criteria, extract the data, and assess the overall quality of evidence. Both observational and RCT studies will be eligible for inclusion if they report offspring mental health resilience/outcome and depressive symptoms or depressive disorder in at least one of the parents/caregivers. Risk of bias will be assessed using The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklists and The Revised Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomised trials (RoB 2). It is expected that studies will be heterogeneous; therefore, meta-analysis will not be attempted. Studies will be systematically retrieved and collated using numerical, graphical, tabular, and narrative summaries and grouped by their design, scope, or overall quality. Further sub-group analyses will be performed to examine sex-, developmental stage-, and outcome-specific protective factors.
The proposed systematic review will be the first to summarise and critically assess quality and strength of evidence of protective factors associated with mental health resilience in offspring of depressed parents. Directions and effect sizes of the protective factors will be discussed as well as differences between the studies, their limitations, and research gaps and future directions. Strengths and limitations of the proposed systematic review will be also discussed. The proposed systematic review findings are expected to help better understand mental health resilience and identify targets for evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies for those in need.
A previous version of this systematic review protocol has been registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database ( www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO , CRD42021229955).
Offspring of mothers with depression are a high-risk group for the development of suicide-related behavior. These offspring are therefore a priority for preventive interventions; however, pathways ...contributing to risk, including specific aspects of offspring psychopathology, remain unclear. The aim of this study was to examine whether offspring symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), disruptive behavior disorder (DBD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and alcohol abuse independently mediate the association between maternal depression and offspring suicide-related behavior.
Data were used from a population-based birth cohort, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Three distinct classes of depression symptoms across the mothers’ first 11 years of their child’s life were identified (minimal, moderate, chronic-severe). Offspring psychopathology was assessed at age 15 years and suicide-related behavior at age 16 years. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
There was evidence for increased risk of suicidal ideation in offspring of mothers with chronic-severe depression symptoms in comparison to offspring of mothers with minimal symptoms (odds ratio = 3.04, 95% CI = 2.19, 4.21). This association was independently mediated by offspring MDD, GAD, and DBD symptoms. The same mechanisms were found for offspring of mothers with moderate depression symptoms over time. Results were similar for offspring suicide attempt except for additional evidence of an indirect effect through offspring ADHD symptoms.
Findings highlight that suicide prevention efforts in offspring of mothers with depression should not only be targeted at offspring with MDD; it is also important to consider offspring with other forms of psychopathology.
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with friendship difficulties. This may partly account for the increasingly recognised association between ADHD and subsequent depression. ...Little is known about the types of friendship difficulties that could contribute to the association between ADHD and depressive symptoms and whether other relationships, such as parent–child relationships, can mitigate against potential adverse effects of friendship difficulties. In a representative UK school sample (
n
= 1712), three main features of friendship (presence of friends, friendship quality and characteristics of the individual’s classroom friendship group) were assessed in a longitudinal study with two assessment waves (W1, W2) during the first year of secondary school (children aged 11-12 years). These friendship features (W1) were investigated as potential mediators of the prospective association between teacher-rated ADHD symptoms (W1) and self-rated depressive symptoms (W2) seven months later. Parent–child relationship quality (W1) was tested as a moderator of any indirect effects of ADHD on depression via friendship. ADHD symptoms were inversely associated with friendship presence, friendship quality and positive characteristics of classroom friendship groups. Depressive symptoms were inversely associated with presence and quality of friendships. Friendship quality had indirect effects in the association between ADHD and subsequent depressive symptoms. There was some evidence of moderated mediation, whereby indirect effects via friendship quality attenuated slightly as children reported warmer parent–child relationships. This highlights the importance of considering the quality of friendships and parent–child relationships in children with ADHD symptoms. Fostering good quality relationships may help disrupt the link between ADHD symptomology and subsequent depression risk.
ObjectivesTo coproduce a school-based protocol and examine acceptability and feasibility of collecting saliva samples for genetic studies from secondary/high school students for the purpose of mental ...health research.DesignProtocol coproduction and mixed-methods feasibility pilot.SettingSecondary schools in Wales, UK.ParticipantsStudents aged 11–13 years.Primary and secondary outcome measuresCoproduced research protocol including an interactive science workshop delivered in schools; school, parental and student recruitment rates; adherence to protocol and adverse events; ability to extract and genotype saliva samples; student enjoyment of the science workshop and qualitative analysis of teacher focus groups on acceptability and feasibility.ResultsFive secondary schools participated in the coproduction phase, and three of these took part in the research study (eligible sample n=868 students). Four further schools were subsequently approached, but none participated. Parental opt-in consent was received from 98 parents (11.3% eligible sample), three parents (0.3%) actively refused and responses were not received for 767 (88.4%) parents. We obtained saliva samples plus consent for data linkage for 79 students. Only one sample was of insufficient quality to be genotyped. The science workshop received positive feedback from students. Feedback from teachers showed that undertaking research like this in schools is viewed as acceptable in principle, potentially feasible, but that there are important procedural barriers to be overcome. Key recommendations include establishing close working relationships between the research team and school classroom staff, together with improved methods for communicating with and engaging parents.ConclusionsThere are major challenges to undertaking large-scale genetic mental health research in secondary schools. Such research may be acceptable in principle, and in practice DNA collected from saliva in classrooms is of sufficient quality. However, key challenges that must be overcome include ensuring representative recruitment of schools and sufficient parental engagement where opt-in parental consent is required.
Offspring of mothers with depression are at heightened risk of psychiatric disorder. Many mothers with depression have comorbid psychopathology. How these co-occurring problems affect child outcomes ...has rarely been considered.
To consider whether the overall burden of co-occurring psychopathology in mothers with recurrent depression predicts new-onset psychopathology in offspring.
Mothers with recurrent depression and their adolescent offspring (9-17 years at baseline) were assessed in 2007 and on two further occasions up to 2011. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing depression severity, anxiety, alcohol problems and antisocial behaviour. Psychiatric disorder in offspring was assessed using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment.
The number of co-occurring problems in mothers (0, 1 or 2+) predicted new-onset offspring disorder (odds ratio (OR) = 1.80, 95% CI 1.17-2.77, P = 0.007). Rates varied from 15.7 to 34.8% depending on the number of co-occurring clinical problems. This remained significant after controlling for maternal depression severity (OR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.03-2.89, P = 0.040).
The burden of co-occurring psychopathology among mothers with recurrent depression indexes increased risk of future onset of psychiatric disorder for offspring. This knowledge can be used in targeting preventive measures in children at high risk of psychiatric disorder.
Previous epidemiological evidence identified a concerning increase in behavioural problems among young children from 1997 to 2008 in Brazil. However, it is unclear whether behavioural problems have ...continued to increase, if secular changes vary between sociodemographic groups and what might explain changes over time. We aimed to monitor changes in child behavioural problems over a 22-year period from 1997 to 2019, examine changing social inequalities and explore potential explanations for recent changes in behavioural problems between 2008 and 2019.
The Child Behaviour Checklist was used to compare parent-reported behavioural problems in 4-year-old children across three Brazilian birth cohorts assessed in 1997 (1993 cohort,
= 633), 2008 (2004 cohort,
= 3750) and 2019 (2015 cohort,
= 577). Response rates across all three population-based cohorts were over 90%. Moderation analyses tested if cross-cohort changes differed by social inequalities (demographic and socioeconomic position), while explanatory models explored whether changes in hypothesized risk and protective factors in prenatal development (e.g., smoking during pregnancy) and family life (e.g., maternal depression and harsh parenting) accounted for changes in child behavioural problems from 2008 to 2019.
Initial increases in child behavioural problems from 1997 to 2008 were followed by declines in conduct problems (mean change = -2.75; 95% confidence interval CI: -3.56, -1.94;
< 0.001), aggression (mean change = -1.84; 95% CI: -2.51, -1.17;
< 0.001) and rule-breaking behaviour (mean change = -0.91; 95% CI: -1.13, -0.69
< 0.001) from 2008 to 2019. Sex differences in rule-breaking behaviour diminished during this 22-year period, whereas socioeconomic inequalities in behavioural problems emerged in 2008 and then remained relatively stable. Consequently, children from poorer and less educated families had higher behavioural problems, compared to more socially advantaged children, in the two more recent cohorts. Changes in measured risk and protective factors partly explained the reduction in behavioural problems from 2008 to 2019.
Following a rise in child behavioural problems, there was a subsequent reduction in behavioural problems from 2008 to 2019. However, social inequalities increased and remained high. Continued monitoring of behavioural problems by subgroups is critical for closing the gap between socially advantaged and disadvantaged children and achieving health equity for the next generation.
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