Aggressive behaviour in childhood and adolescence: the role of smoking during pregnancy, evidence from four twin cohorts in the EU-ACTION consortium

Malanchini, Margherita; Smith‐Woolley, Emily; Ayorech, Ziada; Rimfeld, Kaili; Vuoksimaa, Eero; Korhonen, Tellervo; Bartels, Meike; Beijsterveldt, Catharina E. M. van; Rose, Richard J.; Lundström, Staffan; Anckarsäter, Henrik; Kaprio, Jaakko; Lichtenstein, Paul; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Plomin, Robert

doi:10.1017/s0033291718001344

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Many other instruments exist to assess AGG, among which the Behavior Assessment System for Children (Sandoval & Echandia, 1994), the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (Eyberg & Ross, 1978), and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (Shaffer et al, 1993). Different AGG instruments sometimes have been combined in studies with data from multiple research groups, implicitly assuming that they measure the same underlying construct (e.g., Malanchini et al, 2018; Porsch et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Content, diagnostic, correlational, and genetic similarities between common measures of childhood aggressive behaviors and related psychiatric traits

Hendriks

Nivard

et al. 2020

Child Psychology Psychiatry

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Given the role of childhood aggressive behavior (AGG) in everyday child development, precise and accurate measurement is critical in clinical practice and research. This study aims to quantify agreement among widely used measures of childhood AGG regarding item content, clinical concordance, correlation, and underlying genetic construct. Methods: We analyzed data from 1254 Dutch twin pairs (age 8-10 years, 51.1% boys) from a general population sample for whom both parents completed the A-TAC, CBCL, and SDQ at the same occasion. Results: There was substantial variation in item content among AGG measures, ranging from .00 (i.e., mutually exclusive) to .50 (moderate agreement). Clinical concordance (i.e., do the same children score above a clinical threshold among AGG measures) was very weak to moderate with estimates ranging between .01 and .43 for motherreports and between .12 and .42 for father-reports. Correlations among scales were weak to strong, ranging from .32 to .70 for mother-reports and from .32 to .64 for father-reports. We found weak to very strong genetic correlations among the measures, with estimates between .65 and .84 for mother-reports and between .30 and .87 for fatherreports. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that degree of agreement between measures of AGG depends on the type (i.e., item content, clinical concordance, correlation, genetic correlation) of agreement considered. Because agreement was higher for correlations compared to clinical concordance (i.e., above or below a clinical cutoff), we propose the use of continuous scores to assess AGG, especially for combining data with different measures. Although item content can be different and agreement among observed measures may not be high, the genetic correlations indicate that the underlying genetic liability for childhood AGG is consistent across measures.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Content, diagnostic, correlational, and genetic similarities between common measures of childhood aggressive behaviors and related psychiatric traits

Hendriks

Nivard

et al. 2020

Child Psychology Psychiatry

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our findings do not merely reflect effects of own smoking: 71% of the top-sites showed the same direction for the prospective association of cord blood methylation at birth and aggression in childhood, and 46% have been associated with maternal prenatal smoking. There is a weak observational association between maternal smoking and child aggression[ 52 ]. A limitation of our study is that the EWAS analyses did not adjust for prenatal and postnatal second-hand smoking, and did not adjust for smoking intensity and duration or other substance use.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

DNA methylation signatures of aggression and closely related constructs: A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide studies across the lifespan

Dongen¹,

Hagenbeek²,

Suderman³

et al. 2021

Mol Psychiatry

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

DNA methylation profiles of aggressive behavior may capture lifetime cumulative effects of genetic, stochastic, and environmental influences associated with aggression. Here, we report the first large meta-analysis of epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) of aggressive behavior (N = 15,324 participants). In peripheral blood samples of 14,434 participants from 18 cohorts with mean ages ranging from 7 to 68 years, 13 methylation sites were significantly associated with aggression (alpha = 1.2 × 10−7; Bonferroni correction). In cord blood samples of 2425 children from five cohorts with aggression assessed at mean ages ranging from 4 to 7 years, 83% of these sites showed the same direction of association with childhood aggression (r = 0.74, p = 0.006) but no epigenome-wide significant sites were found. Top-sites (48 at a false discovery rate of 5% in the peripheral blood meta-analysis or in a combined meta-analysis of peripheral blood and cord blood) have been associated with chemical exposures, smoking, cognition, metabolic traits, and genetic variation (mQTLs). Three genes whose expression levels were associated with top-sites were previously linked to schizophrenia and general risk tolerance. At six CpGs, DNA methylation variation in blood mirrors variation in the brain. On average 44% (range = 3–82%) of the aggression–methylation association was explained by current and former smoking and BMI. These findings point at loci that are sensitive to chemical exposures with potential implications for neuronal functions. We hope these results to be a starting point for studies leading to applications as peripheral biomarkers and to reveal causal relationships with aggression and related traits.

show abstract

“…On the other hand, we are aware about the effect of smoking during pregnancy on behavioral problems. Behavioral problems of school-aged children born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy are well documented, promoting the early appearance of psychopathological symptoms such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ 54 ], aggressive behavior [ 55 ] and autism spectrum disorders [ 56 ], among others. However, our data did not show the effect of smoking during pregnancy on behavior in children at 18 months of life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of an Infant Formula Enriched with Milk Fat Globule Membrane, Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Synbiotics on Child Behavior up to 2.5 Years Old: The COGNIS Study

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although early life nutrition influences brain development and mental health, the long-term effects of supplemented infant formula on children´s behavior remain unclear. We analyzed the effects of a bioactive nutrients-enriched-infant formula on children’s behavior up to 2.5 years, compared to a standard infant formula or breastfeeding. Current analysis involved 70 children who were fed a standard infant formula (SF, n = 29) or a bioactive compounds enriched-infant formula (EF, n = 41), during their first 18 months of life, and 33 breastfed (BF) children (reference group) participating in the COGNIS study. Behavioral problems were evaluated using the Child Behavior Checklist at 18 months and 2.5 years. Different statistical analyses were performed using SPSS. EF children aged 2.5 years presented fewer pathological affective problems than SF children. Besides, SF children were classified more frequently as bordering on internalizing problems than BF children. Rates of externalizing problems were increased in SF infants compared to EF and BF infants. Higher maternal IQ was found to have beneficial effects on internalizing and total problem rate in their offspring at 18 months of life; finally, higher maternal educational level was related with fewer ADHD problems in children at 18 months, as well as internalizing, externalizing, total and anxiety problems in children aged 2.5 years. Our analysis suggests that enriched infant formula fed infants seem to show fewer behavioral problems up to 2.5 years compared to a standard infant formula-fed infants. In addition to type of early feeding, maternal IQ and educational level seem to play a key role on children behavioral development.

show abstract

Aggressive behaviour in childhood and adolescence: the role of smoking during pregnancy, evidence from four twin cohorts in the EU-ACTION consortium

Abstract: Perinatal factors, including MSDP, account for a small portion of the variance in aggression in childhood and adolescence. Later experiences may play a greater role in shaping adolescents' aggressive behaviour.

Cited by 17 publications

References 51 publications

Content, diagnostic, correlational, and genetic similarities between common measures of childhood aggressive behaviors and related psychiatric traits

Content, diagnostic, correlational, and genetic similarities between common measures of childhood aggressive behaviors and related psychiatric traits

DNA methylation signatures of aggression and closely related constructs: A meta-analysis of epigenome-wide studies across the lifespan

The Effects of an Infant Formula Enriched with Milk Fat Globule Membrane, Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Synbiotics on Child Behavior up to 2.5 Years Old: The COGNIS Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About