The Development of Mental Health Difficulties in Young People with and without Developmental Language Disorder: A Gene-Environment Interplay Study Using Polygenic Scores

Abstract

Purpose: Young people with developmental language disorder (DLD) have poorer mental health than those without DLD. However, not all young people with DLD are equally affected; some have more mental health difficulties than others. What explains these differences remains unclear. Method: Data from a community cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, were analysed to investigate genetic and environmental influences on the development of mental health difficulties at five time points from childhood (7 years) to adolescence (16 years) in 6,387 young people (8.7% with DLD). Regression and latent class models were fitted to the data.Results: Polygenic scores, indices of genetic risk, for common psychiatric disorders (major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) predicted mental health difficulties in both groups (with and without DLD). Sub-groups of children with similar developmental trajectories of mental health difficulties were identified. Polygenic scores distinguished sub-groups with low mental health difficulties from those characterised by high levels of difficulties, over and above the effects of the socioeconomic status and the early home environment, but these effects did not differ based on DLD status. Conclusion. These findings suggest that, for the most part, both genetic and environmental risk affect the development of mental health difficulties in a cumulative way for young people with DLD (and those without). Although some analysis suggests that genetic risk for common psychiatric disorders might manifest more strongly in those with DLD compared to those without DLD.

Exploring self-reported quality of life in developmental language disorder

“…Collectively, the current descriptive findings align with studies reporting that nonverbal abilities, socioeconomic status, and health history are factors in quality of life for individuals with DLD (e.g., Conti-Ramsden et al, 2013;McGregor et al, 2023;Toseeb et al, 2023), as well as studies indicating quality of life challenges across physical, emotional, and educational domains (Eadie et al, 2018;Haukedal et al, 2023;Le et al, 2021). A preliminary aim for future research derived from the current findings, when considered alongside prior work, is to test how risk factors in particular quality of life challenges may vary depending on age and environmental demands (e.g., Orrego et al, 2023).…”

“…Convergingly, McGregor et al (2023) found that cumulative risk across multiple factors, including nonverbal abilities, was relevant to functional outcomes in a sample of children with DLD (see also Toseeb et al, 2023). There is also evidence that nonverbal abilities are associated with prosocial behavior (e.g., helping others, social confidence) in adolescents with DLD (Conti-Ramsden et al, 2013).…”

“…However, this participant was experiencing few other risk factors identified in prior work, was in high school rather than a later transitional phase, and was receiving multiple supports at school. Thus, future work should test the degree to which socioeconomic status is associated with quality of life in the absence of other risk factors (e.g., low nonverbal abilities, poor health; Conti-Ramsden et al, 2013;McGregor et al, 2023;Toseeb et al, 2023).…”

“…These studies also demonstrated that language skills were associated with concurrent (Haukedal et al, 2023;Le et al, 2021) and later (Eadie et al, 2018) quality of life. Toseeb et al (2023) reported that adolescents with DLD were more likely than NT peers to experience functional challenges in mental health, and that risk factors, including socioeconomic status, family history of psychiatric conditions, and the early language and communication home environment, were important determiners in the degree of functional challenge. McGregor et al (2023) found that parent-reported challenges in communication, relationships, and academic functioning in children with DLD were associated with risk factors, such as child nonverbal abilities, child health, and caregiver education, but not with individual differences in language skills.…”

Genetic Influences on Sibling Bullying and Mental Health Difficulties

“…Initially, two sets of PGSs were generated: major depressive disorder (MDD, Howard et al, 2019) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, Demontis et al, 2019). Full details of how these were generated are reported elsewhere (Toseeb, Vincent, Oginni, Asbury, & Newbury, 2023). In short, summary statistics were accessed and subject to standard quality control procedures, before generating PGSs for each individual within the current sample.…”