Heritability and Longitudinal Stability of Impulsivity in Adolescence

Abstract

Impulsivity is a multifaceted personality construct that plays an important role throughout the lifespan in psychopathological disorders involving self-regulated behaviors. Its genetic and environmental etiology, however, is not clearly understood during the important developmental period of adolescence. This study investigated the relative influence of genes and environment on self-reported impulsive traits in adolescent twins measured on two separate occasions (waves) between the ages of 11 and 16. An adolescent version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) developed for this study was factored into subscales reflecting inattention, motor impulsivity, and non-planning. Genetic analyses of these BIS subscales showed moderate heritability, ranging from 33–56% at the early wave (age 11–13 years) and 19–44% at the later wave (age 14–16 years). Moreover, genetic influences explained half or more of the variance of a single latent factor common to these subscales within each wave. Genetic effects specific to each subscale also emerged as significant, with the exception of motor impulsivity. Shared twin environment was not significant for either the latent or specific impulsivity factors at either wave. Phenotypic correlations between waves ranged from r = 0.25 to 0.42 for subscales. The stability correlation between the two latent impulsivity factors was r = 0.43, of which 76% was attributable to shared genetic effects, suggesting strong genetic continuity from mid to late adolescence. These results contribute to our understanding of the nature of impulsivity by demonstrating both multidimensionality and genetic specificity to different facets of this complex construct, as well as highlighting the importance of stable genetic influences across adolescence.

Child maltreatment, impulsivity, and antisocial behavior in African American children: Moderation effects from a cumulative dopaminergic gene index

“…The ego control dimension ranges from high ego-undercontrol (with scores closer to 1) to high ego-overcontrol (with scores closer to −1). Children with profiles characteristic of ego-undercontrol (more positive ego control congruence scores) are described as spontaneous, often unable to delay gratification, rebellious, and unpredictable; such traits are consistent with current conceptualizations of, and factor analyses of impulsivity (Letzring, Block, & Funder, 2005; Niv, Tuvblad, Raine, Wang, & Baker, 2012; White et al, 1994). Thus, the ego control Q-criterion scores derived from each child's averaged Q-sort profile were utilized to assess variation in impulsivity.…”

Impulsivity and Suicidality in Adolescent Inpatients

“…As noted earlier, there are key developmental differences in adolescents relative to adults, including a greater frequency of interpersonal stressors (Rudolph 2008), discordant frontolimbic development (Casey et al 2008), and an increased occurrence of impulsive outcomes (e.g., vehicular crashes, unintentional injury) (Eaton et al 2006). Given the stability of impulsivity over time (e.g., Niv et al 2012), there is reason to believe that the current findings are invariant across ages. At the same time, this should be tested in future research.…”

Are boys more sensitive to sensitivity? Parenting and executive function in preschoolers

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