Association study of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene and childhood aggression.
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Adolescent↗
Biomedical subjects
Joseph H Beitchman
Publications and source records attributed to Joseph H Beitchman.
Serotonin system genes and childhood-onset aggression.
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Age of Onset↗
Social anxiety in late adolescence: the importance of early childhood language impairment.
Social phobia is a common, highly comorbid, poorly understood and relatively understudied condition. The origins of social phobia share familial and biological features common with those of other anxiety disorders, but seldom have precursors of the fear of social communication been examined as a possible pathway to social phobia. Here we examine the role of early childhood language impairment as an antecedent to social phobia in late adolescence. Participants in a prospective longitudinal community study identified as having language impairment at age 5 and matched controls were followed up at age 19. Compared to normal language controls, individuals with a history of early language impairment had 2.7 times the odds of having a social phobia by age 19. Results suggest that early language impairment represents a distinct pathway to late adolescent social phobia.
Adolescent↗
The dopamine D4 receptor gene and moderation of the association between externalizing behavior and IQ.
BACKGROUND: Dopaminergic neurotransmission is implicated in externalizing behavior problems, such as aggression and hyperactivity. Externalizing behavior is known to be negatively associated with cognitive ability. Activation of dopamine D4 receptors appears to inhibit the functioning of the prefrontal cortex, a brain region implicated in cognitive ability. The 7-repeat allele of the dopamine D4 receptor gene produces less efficient receptors, relative to other alleles, and this may alter the effects of dopamine on cognitive function. OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of a polymorphism in the third exon of the dopamine D4 receptor gene on the association between externalizing behavior and IQ. DESIGN: In 1 community sample and 2 clinical samples, the presence or absence of the 7-repeat allele was examined as a moderator of the association between externalizing behavior and IQ; the strength of this effect across samples was estimated meta-analytically. PATIENTS: Eighty-seven boys from a longitudinal community study, 48 boys referred clinically for aggression, and 42 adult males diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: IQ scores and observer ratings of externalizing behavior were taken from existing data sets. RESULTS: Among individuals lacking the 7-repeat allele, externalizing behavior was negatively correlated with IQ (mean r = -0.43; P<.001). Among individuals having at least 1 copy of the 7-repeat allele, externalizing behavior and IQ were uncorrelated (mean r = 0.02; P = .45). The difference between these correlations was significant (z = -2.99; P<.01). CONCLUSIONS: Allelic variation of the dopamine D4 receptor gene appears to be a genetic factor moderating the association between externalizing behavior and cognitive ability. This finding may help to elucidate the adaptive value of the 7-repeat allele.
Adolescent↗
Serotonin transporter polymorphisms and persistent, pervasive childhood aggression.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the potential association of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene and childhood aggression by testing the 5-HTT variable-number-tandem-repeat and serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), including the recently discovered Lg allelic variant of 5-HTTLPR. METHOD: Clinically referred children displaying extreme aggression, with a minimum 2-year history, were genotyped for 5-HTTLPR (N=77) and 5-HTT variable-number-tandem-repeat (N=78). Analyses compared genotype frequencies of the aggressive children with healthy comparison subjects. RESULTS: The "low expressing" genotypic variants of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism (S/S, Lg/S, Lg/Lg) were significantly associated with childhood aggression. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to report a significant association between the 5-HTTLPR gene and childhood aggression.
Adolescent↗
Early language impairment and young adult delinquent and aggressive behavior.
Clinic and forensic studies have reported high rates of language impairments in conduct disordered and incarcerated youth. In community samples followed to early adolescence, speech and language impairments have been linked to attention deficits and internalizing problems, rather than conduct problems, delinquency, or aggression. This study examines the young adult antisocial outcomes of speech or language impaired children. Language impaired boys had higher levels of parent-rated delinquency symptoms by age 19 than boys without language impairment, controlled for verbal IQ and for demographic and family variables. Language impaired boys did not differ from controls in self-reported delinquency or aggression symptoms on a standardized checklist; however, language impaired boys reported higher rates of arrests and convictions than controls. Language impairment was not related to aggression or delinquency in girls. We examine alternate models of the interrelationships between language, academics, and behavior, at ages 5, 12, and 19.
Adult↗
Association of the serotonin transporter and 5HT1Dbeta receptor genes with extreme, persistent and pervasive aggressive behaviour in children.
There is an inverse correlation between central nervous system serotonergic activity and human aggression, and aggressive traits are at least partially heritable. The present study sought to investigate the relationship between childhood aggression and polymorphisms of two serotonin system genes: the 5HT1Dbeta receptor gene and the serotonin transporter (5HTT) gene. Fifty children with a minimum 2-year history of aggression and scores above the 90th percentile on the Aggression subscales of both the Child Behaviour Checklist and the Teacher's Report Form were included in the study. All probands and locally recruited ethnically matched controls were genotyped for the 5HT1Dbeta G861C, 5HTTLPR (promoter) and 5HTT variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphisms. Chi-square tests revealed a significantly reduced frequency of the 5HTT VNTR 10R allele in children displaying the high-aggression phenotype compared with normal controls (P=0.039). After correction for multiple comparisons, this association reached the level of a trend but was no longer significant. Probands also demonstrated an increased 5HT1Dbeta 861C allele frequency, but this was not statistically significant (P=0.156). 5HTTLPR was not found to be significantly associated with aggression, but our data support previous findings of an association between this polymorphism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (P=0.025). While these preliminary findings should be interpreted cautiously, our data suggest that the 5HTT VNTR polymorphism is associated with measures of aggressive behaviour in a sample of children displaying extreme, persistent and pervasive aggression.
Adolescent↗
Single-word and conversational measures of word-finding proficiency.
Two studies with young adults as participants evaluated the relationship, presumed in the word-finding literature to exist, between slow, inaccurate performances in single-word-naming and semantic-retrieval tasks and disruptions to conversational fluency. The measures evaluated were the frequency of conversational disruptions and the scores from 3 single-word tasks: total time from the Rapid Automatized Naming task (RAN; M. B. Denckla and R. G. Rudel, 1976), standard score from the Brief Test of the Test of Adolescent/Adult Word Finding (TAWF; D. J. German, 1990), and total unique words from the Controlled Oral Word Association task (FAS; A. L. Benton and K. Hamsher, 1978). RAN time was the only significant predictor of the frequency of conversational disruptions, although this relationship was weak (R(2) =.11). In addition, single-word performances did not discriminate between groups of participants with differing levels of conversational fluency. Clinicians are cautioned against identifying word-finding deficits using single-word measures alone. Moreover, the theoretical construct of word-finding difficulties requires additional validation.
Adolescent↗
The serotonin transporter gene in aggressive children with and without ADHD and nonaggressive matched controls.
Using an ethnically homogeneous sample of highly aggressive Caucasian children and their matched controls, we report differential associations of the 5HTTLPR and VNTR polymorphisms with ADHD and aggression, respectively. Given the small sample size and the preliminary nature of our findings, replication is necessary.
Aggression↗
Young adult academic outcomes in a longitudinal sample of early identified language impaired and control children.
BACKGROUND: The long-term academic consequences of childhood language impairment are both theoretically and clinically important. An unbiased appraisal of these outcomes, however, requires carefully designed, longitudinal research. METHOD: A group of children first identified as having speech and/or language impairment in a community-based, longitudinal study at 5 years of age and matched controls were re-examined during young adulthood (age 19). A comprehensive battery of speech and language, cognitive and achievement tests, psychiatric interviews, and questionnaires were completed by subjects, their parents and teachers. RESULTS: While children with early speech problems showed only a few academic differences from controls in young adulthood, early language impaired (LI) young adults lagged significantly behind controls in all areas of academic achievement, even after controlling for intelligence. Further, rates of learning disabilities (LD) were significantly higher in the LI group than both the controls and community base rates. Concurrent individual difference variables, including phonological awareness, naming speed for digits, non-verbal IQ, verbal working memory, and executive function, all contributed unique variance to achievement in specific areas. CONCLUSION: Early LI rather than speech impairment is clearly associated with continued academic difficulties into adulthood. These results speak to the need for intensive, early intervention for LI youngsters.
Adolescent↗
Psychiatric and substance use disorders in late adolescence: the role of risk and perceived social support.
This article explores how measures of risk and perceived social support relate to different configurations of adolescent psychopathology using data from a community-based, longitudinal investigation of 284 individuals interviewed in 1982 at age 5 and again at age 19. Discriminant analysis was used to assess differences in risk and social support variables among eight clusters of youth: anxious, anxious drinkers, depressed, depressed drug abusers, antisocial, antisocial drinkers, drug abusers, problem drinkers, and a ninth group representing those participants without a diagnosis. The results indicated that one function, defined by loadings for (low) family support and (high) early cumulative risk, accounted for the majority of between-group associations. Two groups of drug-abusing youth with multiple adjustment problems were highest on this function, while non-disordered youth and a group of participants with substance abuse alone were lowest. Findings are discussed in terms of the need to consider comorbidity when examining risk factors for later disorder.
Adolescent↗