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First published online January 18, 2019

Genetic and Environmental Links Between General Factors of Psychopathology and Cognitive Ability in Early Childhood

Andrew D. Grotzinger, Amanda K. Cheung, […], Megan W. Patterson, K. Paige Harden, and Elliot M. Tucker-Drob [email protected]+2View all authors and affiliations
Volume 7, Issue 3
https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618820018

Abstract

In adults, psychiatric disorders are highly comorbid and are negatively associated with cognitive abilities. Individual cognitive measures have been linked with domains of child psychopathology, but the specificity of these associations and the extent to which they reflect shared genetic influences are unknown. In this study we examined the relationship between general factors of cognitive ability (g) and psychopathology (p) in early development using two genetically informative samples: the Texas “Tiny” Twin Project (TXtT; N = 626, age range = 0.16–6.31 years) and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort (ECLS-B; N ≈ 1,300 individual twins, age range = 3.7–7.1 years). The total p–g correlation (−.21 in ECLS-B; −.34 in TXtT) was primarily attributable to genetic and shared environmental factors. The early age range of participants indicates that the p–g association is a reflection of overlapping genetic and shared environmental factors that operate in the first years of life.

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Published In

Volume 7, Issue 3
Pages: 430 - 444
Article first published online: January 18, 2019
Issue published: May 2019

Keywords

  1. psychopathology
  2. intelligence
  3. behavioral genetics
  4. early childhood

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© The Author(s) 2019.
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PubMed: 31440427

Authors

Affiliations

Andrew D. Grotzinger
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
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Amanda K. Cheung
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
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Megan W. Patterson
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
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K. Paige Harden
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
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Elliot M. Tucker-Drob
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
[email protected]
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Notes

Elliot M. Tucker-Drob, The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Psychology, 108 E. Dean Keeton, Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712-0187 E-mail: [email protected]

Author Contributions

K. P. Harden, E. M. Tucker-Drob, and A. K. Cheung developed the study concept and design. Testing and data collection was performed by A. K. Cheung. A. D. Grotzinger, A. K. Cheung, and E. M. Tucker-Drob performed the data analysis and interpretation. All authors helped in drafting the manuscript and providing critical revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for submission. A. D. Grotzinger and A. K. Cheung contributed equally to this work.

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