Biomedical subjects

Kellie S Bennett

Publications and source records attributed to Kellie S Bennett.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

A twin study of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder dimensions rated by the strengths and weaknesses of ADHD-symptoms and normal-behavior (SWAN) scale.

BACKGROUND: When symptom rating scales are used in the general population, there is severe skewness, with many individuals having no symptoms. While this has major implications for genetic designs that require extremely discordant and concordant (EDAC) siblings, little is known of the genetics of scales which seek to differentiate within the "no ADHD symptom" group. METHODS: Parents of Australian twins completed two attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) questionnaires, the Australian Twin Behaviour Rating Scale (ATBRS), based on conventional DSM-IV symptom scores, and the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD-Symptoms and Normal-Behavior (SWAN) scale, which includes above-average performance on attention and activity. The two scales were compared in two age groups of same-sex twins, 528 pairs aged 6 to 9 and 488 pairs aged 12 to 20. RESULTS: Parents reported higher levels of activity and attention in their twins when reporting using the SWAN scale than when using the ATBRS, and while the monozygotic (MZ) correlations were similar on both scales, the dizygotic (DZ) correlations were consistently higher on the SWAN. On DSM-IV based scales, parents exaggerated differences within those sibling pairs in the "with few ADHD symptoms" category. CONCLUSIONS: The SWAN may provide a more realistic description of the ADHD phenotype for the selection of twin and sibling pairs for genetic analysis.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Having a co-twin with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood disorder which occurs more often in twins than singletons. This article focuses on the psychosocial consequences of having a co-twin with ADHD. Specifically, the level of anxiety (generalized and separation) in non-ADHD children who have a co-twin with ADHD is examined using data from the Australian Twin ADHD Project (ATAP). Parental report data on 501 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs aged 6 to 15 and their siblings were used to examine (i) anxiety symptoms in twin pairs discordant for ADHD, (ii) how the effects of an ADHD twin on their co-twin and siblings are related to the type of ADHD, and (iii) whether the effects are greater for the nonaffected twin than nontwin siblings. Results show that anxiety was high in co-twins of children with the combined subtype of ADHD, with increased symptoms of both generalized and separation anxiety. Inattentive ADHD had smaller effects, which were confined to generalized anxiety and were specific to the co-twin rather than other siblings. These results have clinical implications in managing the entire multiple birth family where one twin has ADHD, and also has implications for genetic analysis in modeling the relationship of ADHD to internalizing disorders.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Gender differences in ADHD subtype comorbidity.

OBJECTIVE: To examine gender differences in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ("ADHD") symptom comorbidity with "oppositional defiant disorder", "conduct disorder", "separation anxiety disorder", "generalized anxiety disorder", speech therapy, and remedial reading in children. METHOD: From 1994 to 1995, data from a large sample (N = 4,371) of twins and siblings studied in the Australian Twin ADHD Project were obtained by mailed DSM-IV-based questionnaires, investigating patterns of comorbidity in the three subtypes of "ADHD": "inattentive", "hyperactive/impulsive", and "combined". A total of 1,550 questionnaires were returned (87%) over the next 12 to 18 months. RESULTS: Analysis of variance showed significant between-group differences in males and females for inattention and hyperactive/impulsive symptom counts with higher rates of "oppositional defiant disorder" and "conduct disorder" in males, and higher rates of "separation anxiety disorder" in females indicating internalizing disorders are more common in females and externalizing disorders are occurring more often in males. Differences were found between the "ADHD" subtypes and the no ADHD category for all comorbid conditions, for both males and females. Children without ADHD consistently had fewer symptoms, while children with the combined subtype showed consistently more comorbid symptoms indicating a strong relationship between high rates of externalizing symptoms and high rates of internalizing symptoms. Gender differences in speech therapy were significant only for the children without ADHD. The rates of "separation anxiety disorder" were higher in females with the "inattention" subtype and the rate of "generalized anxiety disorder" higher for females with the "combined" subtype, indicating that the subtypes of ADHD were associated with these internalizing disorders in different ways. CONCLUSIONS: Although comorbidity differs among ADHD subtypes, there were no significant gender differences in comorbidity for externalizing disorders. Inattentive girls may present with anxiety. Clinical approaches for both males and females should be sensitive to possible language and reading problems.

Analysis of Variance↗