Genetic and Environmental Contributions of Negative Valence Systems to Internalizing Pathways

Abstract

The Genetic and Environmental Contributions of Negative Valence Systems to Internalizing Pathways study (also referred to as the Adolescent and Young Adult Twin Study) was designed to examine varying constructs of the negative valence systems as they relate to the development of internalizing disorders from a genetically informed perspective. The goal of this study was to evaluate genetic and environmental contributions to potential psychiatric endophenotypes that contribute to internalizing psychopathology by studying adolescent and young adult twins longitudinally over a two-year period. This report details the sample characteristics, study design, and methodology of this study. The first wave of data collection (i.e., time 1) is complete; the 2-year follow-up (i.e., time 2) is currently underway. A total of 430 twin pairs (N=860 individual twins; 166 monozygotic pairs; 57.2% female) and 422 parents or legal guardians participated at time 1. Twin participants completed self-report surveys and participated in experimental paradigms to assess processes within the negative valence systems. Additionally, parents completed surveys to report on themselves and their twin children. Findings from this study will help clarify the genetic and environmental influences of the negative valence systems and their association with internalizing risk. The goal of this line of research is to develop methods for early internalizing disorder risk detection.

Genetic underpinnings of callous‐unemotional traits and emotion recognition in children, adolescents, and emerging adults

“…The combined analytic sample consisted of 1,214 individuals (607 twin pairs; MZ pairs = 251; DZ pairs = 356), was 54.0% female, and had a mean age of 14.1 years ( SD = 3.2 years, range = 9.1–20.8 years). Participants were excluded from the studies if they were intellectually disabled, had an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, had experienced a psychotic episode, were currently using anxiolytic or antidepressant medication, or had been diagnosed with any medical condition which might have adversely impacted participants’ safety or ability to complete the study, including aspects of the study not described here (Carney et al., ; Cecilione et al., ).…”

“…Twins were recruited by the Mid‐Atlantic Twin Registry (Lilley & Silberg, ) and then assessed at one of two sites: The Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA) and the National Institute for Mental Health (Bethesda, MD). Participants completed a wide range of self‐report measures and laboratory tasks as part of the two larger studies on the heritability of potential endophenotypes for internalizing disorders (Carney et al., ; Cecilione et al., ). Participants under age 18 provided assent; a parent or legal guardian provided informed consent for themselves and their children.…”

DNA Methylation Associated with Postpartum Depressive Symptoms Overlaps Findings from a Genome-wide Association Meta-Analysis of Depression

“…For the early-onset MD EWAS, site, regional, and gene enrichment results from the Adolescent and Young Adult Twin Study (AYATS) were compared to findings from this study to determine the extent of overlap and similarity. 26,55 Results.…”

Resting Heart Rate Variability (HRV) in Adolescents and Young Adults from a Genetically-Informed Perspective

“…The overall purpose of the parent study was to examine how negative valence system constructs contribute to internalizing disorders by recruiting a community sample of participants with varying degrees of symptomology. All twins were generally healthy and free of medications with psychotropic effects at the time of the study (for more details see, Cecilione et al 2018). Following removal of outliers (defined as 3 standard deviations above or below the mean for a metric), the final analytical sample consisted of 784 participants with 2.5-min interval data (395 complete twin pairs; MZ = 152; DZ = 240; M age = 17 years; female = 57%; Caucasian = 91%; Black = 4%; Hispanic = 4%) and 776 with 10-min interval data (388 complete twin pairs; MZ = 151; DZ = 237; M age = 17 years; female = 56%; Caucasian = 92%; Black = 4%; Hispanic = 4%; see Table 1 for a complete demographic breakdown of participants in the final analytical sample).…”