Paternal Alcoholism and Offspring ADHD Problems: A Children of Twins Design

Abstract

Objective A recent Children-of-Female-Twin design suggests that the association between maternal alcohol use disorder and offspring ADHD is due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as prenatal nicotine exposure. We present here a complementary analysis using a Children-of-Male-Twin design examining the association between paternal alcoholism and offspring attention deficit hyperactivity problems (ADHP). Methods Children-of-twins design: offspring were classified into 4 groups of varying genetic and environmental risk based on father and co-twin’s alcohol dependence status. Results Univariate results are suggestive of a genetic association between paternal alcohol dependence and broadly defined offspring ADHP. Specifically, offspring of male twins with a history of DSM-III-R alcohol dependence, as well as offspring of non-alcohol dependent monozygotic twins whose cotwin was alcohol dependent, were significantly more likely to exhibit ADHP than control offspring. However, multivariate models show maternal variables independently predicting increased risk for offspring ADHP and significantly decreased support for a genetic mechanism of parent-to-child transmission. Conclusions In support of earlier work, maternal variables (i.e., maternal ADHD and prenatal exposure) were strongly associated with child ADHP; however, the role of paternal alcohol dependence influences was not definitive. While genetic transmission may be important, the association between paternal alcohol dependence and child ADHP is more likely to be indirect and a result of several pathways.

Antisocial Alcoholism in Parents of Adolescents and Young Adults With Childhood ADHD

“…In fact, 62% of the 128 proband fathers with alcohol problems had comorbid antisociality. Thus, we may be seeing what Knopik and colleagues describe as cross-generational genetic covariation (Knopik et al, 2009) in which parents transmit genetic vulnerability to offspring for multiple disorders that include alcoholism, ADHD, and antisociality. Investigators have written about familial risk for alcoholism being transmitted via multiple mechanisms reflecting the heterogeneity of alcoholism more generally (Zucker et al, 2011).…”

Accounting for genetic and environmental confounds in associations between parent and child characteristics: A systematic review of children-of-twins studies.

“…To date 9 CoT studies have looked at the effects of parental alcohol problems on child outcome (Duncan et al, 2006;Glowinski et al, 2004;Haber, Jacob, & Heath, 2005;Jacob et al, 2003;Knopik et al, 2006;Knopik, Jacob, Haber, Swenson, & Howell, 2009;Slutske et al, 2008;Waldron, Martin, & Heath, 2009). Two…”

“…Two such studies have examined the relationship between parental alcoholism and ADHD problems (Knopik et al, 2006;Knopik et al, 2009). The first examined the effects of maternal alcohol use disorder on offspring ADHD in the ATR sample (Knopik et al, 2006).…”

The Importance of the Prenatal Environment in Behavioral Genetics: Introduction to Special Issue

“…However, evidence that maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy is correlated with other potential contributors to adverse prenatal environmental conditions can make causal attribution difficult (see Knopik 2009; D'Onofrio et al 2013 for reviews). This is supported by recent work from our own groups and others suggesting that maternal smoking during pregnancy is correlated with many risk factors, such as obstetric complications and exposures (e.g., exposure to toxins like chemicals, pesticides) experienced in utero (Marceau et al 2013), lower levels of maternal education (D'Onofrio et al 2010), spousal/significant other substance dependence (Knopik et al 2005, 2006), nicotine dependence (Agrawal et al 2008), as well as maternal ADHD and other psychopathology (D'Onofrio et al 2010; Huizink and Mulder 2006; Knopik 2009; Knopik et al 2009), all of which may come with a host of additional influences on the intrauterine environment that also predict later offspring behavior.…”