Objective
Genomic discoveries should be investigated in generalizable child psychiatric samples in order to justify and inform studies that will evaluate their use for specific clinical purposes. In youth consecutively referred for neuropsychiatric evaluation, we examined 1) the convergent and discriminant validity of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) polygenic risk scores (PRSs) in relation to
DSM
-based ADHD phenotypes; 2) the association of ADHD PRSs with phenotypes beyond ADHD that share its liability and have implications for outcome; and 3) the extent to which youth with high ADHD PRSs manifest a distinctive clinical profile.
Method
Participants were 433 youth, ages 7–18 years, from the Longitudinal Study of Genetic Influences on Cognition. We used logistic/linear regression and mixed effects models to examine associations with ADHD-related polygenic variation from the largest ADHD genome-wide association study to date. We replicated key findings in 5,140 adult patients from a local health system biobank.
Results
Among referred youth, ADHD PRSs were associated with ADHD diagnoses, cross-diagnostic ADHD symptoms and academic impairment (odds ratios ∼1.4;
R
2
values ∼2%–3%), as well as cross-diagnostic variation in aggression and working memory. In adults, ADHD PRSs were associated with ADHD and phenotypes beyond the condition that have public health implications. Finally, youth with a high ADHD polygenic burden showed a more severe clinical profile than youth with a low burden (β coefficients ∼.2).
Conclusion
Among child and adolescent outpatients, ADHD polygenic risk was associated with ADHD and related phenotypes as well as clinical severity. These results extend the scientific foundation for studies of ADHD polygenic risk in the clinical setting and highlight directions for further research.
This is a consensual qualitative research analysis of an archived videotaped therapeutic support group session for African American men to enhance clinical interpretation and empirical understanding of their views on gender- and race-related life issues. Three coders plus 2 auditors analyzed a 90-min videotaped session of 5 adult African American males. The analysis yielded emotions, expectations, and relationships as 3 thematic domains, with core and subcore ideas related to therapy group, family members, future goals, and father–son relationships under each, expanding the depth of knowledge and interpretation about content and interactions. Results showed that African American men did engage the support group to share personal life issues. This may mean that groups focused on common life issues might reduce resistance of African American men’s utilization of conventional treatment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.