Differential susceptibility to maternal expressed emotion in children with ADHD and their siblings? Investigating plasticity genes, prosocial and antisocial behaviour

Abstract

Background The differential susceptibility theory states that children differ in their susceptibility towards environmental experiences, partially due to plasticity genes. Individuals carrying specific variants in such genes will be more disadvantaged in negative but, conversely, more advantageous in positive environments. Understanding gene-environment interactions may help unravel the causal mechanisms involved in multifactorial psychiatric disorders such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Methods The differential susceptibility theory was examined by investigating the presence of interaction effects between maternal expressed emotion (EE; warmth and criticism) and the solitary and combined effects of plasticity genes (DAT1, DRD4, 5-HTT) on prosocial and antisocial behaviour (measured with parent- and self-reports) in children with ADHD and their siblings (N=366, M=17.11 years, 74.9 % male). Results Maternal warmth was positively associated with prosocial behaviour and negatively with antisocial behaviour, while maternal criticism was positively associated with antisocial behaviour and negatively with prosocial behaviour. No evidence of differential susceptibility was found. Conclusions The current study found no evidence for differential susceptibility based on the selected plasticity genes, in spite of strong EE-behaviour associations. It is likely that additional factors play a role in the complex relationship between genes, environment and behaviour.

Cross‐fostering differentially affects ADHD‐related behaviors in spontaneously hypertensive rats

“…Specifically, SHR and WKY rats that were raised by SHR dams interacted more with an unfamiliar rat than SHR or WKY rats raised by WKY dams. This suggests that reported differences in maternal behavior exhibited by SHR dams (Cierpial et al, 1990) may have a significant impact on the social behavior of the offspring, consistent with reports that social behavior in children with ADHD can be affected by maternal warmth or criticism (Richards et al, 2014). Although hyper-social behavior is not considered a core deficit in ADHD, it is often associated with the disorder and dramatically affects interpersonal relationships and communication, resulting in negative peer relationships and social ostracism (Pelham, Fabiano, & Massetti, 2005; Whalen & Henker, 1992).…”

“…For example, children with ADHD are known to be breastfed less than non-ADHD children (Mimouni-Bloch et al, 2013; Sabuncuoglu, Orengul, Bikmazer, & Yilmaz Kaynar, 2014). In addition, associations between maternal warmth and ADHD have been reported (Richards et al, 2014; Tully, Arseneault, Caspi, Moffitt, & Morgan, 2004) as well as range of alterations in parental behavior in those rearing a child with ADHD (Modesto-Lowe, Danforth, & Brooks, 2008; Murray & Johnston, 2006; Weinstein, Apfel, & Weinstein, 1997). At the same time, other studies have argued that parental behavior does not influence the occurrence of ADHD-related behavior in children (Barkley & Cunningham, 1997), underscoring the need for additional research in this area.…”

Mesocorticolimbic dopamine functioning in primary psychopathy: A source of within-group heterogeneity

“…Indeed, in adolescent and young-adult males, when mesolimbic DA activity is boosted and D2-receptor expression downregulated (Steinberg, 2008;McCutcheon and Marinelli, 2009;Luciana et al, 2012;Rothmond et al, 2012), the 10R-allele is more consistently related to antisocial behavior, impetuous risk-taking behavior, and delinquency (Guo et al, 2007a(Guo et al, , 2007bBeaver et al 2008b;Burt and Mikolaiewski, 2008;Guo et al, 2008;O'Brien et al, 2013). Therefore, samples that include both children and adolescents, or that do not differentiate between different age groups, fail to find a significant association between DAT1 and externalizing or impulsive behavior (Schulz-Heik et al, 2008;Sonuga-Barke et al, 2009;Richards et al, 2014). When transitioning into adulthood and DA levels steadily decline again, it is the 9R-allele that is associated with angry-impulsive personality traits, more severe ADHD symptoms, and increased levels of antisocial behavior in addicts (Gerra et al, 2005;Franke et al, 2008;Joyce et al, 2009;Franke et al, 2010;Reese et al, 2010;Yang et al, 2012).…”

Risk factors for comorbid oppositional defiant disorder in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

“…Overlapping risk factors for ODD and ADHD encompass maternal smoking during pregnancy, a family history of ADHD or ODD, and higher levels of family conflict [ 6 , 36 , 39 ]. Specific risk factors for ODD, compared with ADHD, include deviant peer affiliation, harsh or inconsistent parenting, low levels of parental affection, and exposure to family violence [ 6 , 36 , 43 ]. Studies into specific risk factors for comorbid ODD in ADHD have mainly focused on transgenerational influences, such as parental psychopathology and parenting styles, and reported significant associations of those factors with ODD, rather than with ADHD [for reviews see: 23 , 37 ].…”

“…In differentiating between ADHD + ODD and ADHD-only, we hypothesised that postnatal risk factors would be more strongly related to ADHD + ODD [ 1 , 23 ]. Finally, we expected less parental warmth and more parental criticism to be predictive for ADHD + ODD group membership, compared with ADHD-only [ 23 , 43 ].…”