Heritability of attention problems in children II: longitudinal results from a study of twins age 3 to 12.

Achenbach T.M.; Achenbach T.M.; Achenbach T.M.; Barkley R.A.; Biederman J.; Biederman J.; Boomsma D.I.; Boomsma D.I.; Campbell S.B.; Carey G.; Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek; Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek; Eaves L.J.; Eaves L.J.; Eaves L.J.; Edelbrock C.; Falconer D.S.; Hart E.L.; Hudziak J.J.; Hudziak J.J.; Kasius M.C.; Klein R.G.; Koot H.M.; Little R.J.A.; Loehlin J.C.; Martin N.G.; McGee R.; Neale M.C.; Neale M.C.; Orlebeke J.F.; Plomin R.; Ross D.M.; Rutter M.; Schmitz S.; Schmitz S.; Steingard R.; Szatmari P.; Thapar A.; Van den Oord E.J.C.G.; Verhulst F.C.; Verhulst F.C.; Woody-Ramsey J.; Wothke W.; Zahn-Waxler C.

research

Heritability of attention problems in children II: longitudinal results from a study of twins age 3 to 12.

Abstract

this paper we present data of large samples of twin families, with an equal number of girls and boys. The well-known gender difference with boys displaying more OA and AP was observed at each age. Even at the age of 3, boys display more OA problems than girls. Clinical studies have indicated that severe problem behavior can be identified in very young children (see for review, Campbell, 1995; Keenan & Wakschlag, 2000; Shaw, Owens, Giovannelli, & Winslow, 2001) and that the onset of ADHD is during the pre-school period (Barkley, Fisher, Edelbrock, & Smallish, 1990; Table 6 Top part includes percentages of total variances (diagonal) and covariances (off-diagonal) explained by additive genetic, genetic dominance, and unique environmental components based on best fitting models. Percentages for boys and girls are reported below and above diagonal, respectively. Lower part includes correlations calculated for additive genetic, genetic dominance, and unique environmental sources of variance between different ages. Correlations for boys and girls are reported below and above diagonal, respectively Relative proportions of variance and covariance BoysnGirls A% D% E% OA 3 AP 7 AP 10 AP 12 OA 3 AP 7 AP 10 AP 12 OA 3 AP 7 AP 10 AP 12 OA 3 50n41 73 79 75 22n33 17 13 14 28n26 10 8 11 AP 7 59 33n57 50 53 31 39n16 31 28 10 28n27 19 19 AP 10 86 31 41n48 47 6 51 31n25 32 8 18 28n27 21 AP 12 71 24 31 40n54 16 55 45 30n18 13 21 24 30n28 Correlations between different ages BoysnGirls ADE OA 3 AP 7 AP 10 AP 12 OA 3 AP 7 AP 10 AP 12 OA 3 AP 7 AP 10 AP 12 OA 3 1.00 .60 .66 .57 1.00 .30 .16 .20 1.00 .15 .12 .14 AP 7 .57 1.00 .62 .57 .41 1.00 .99 1.00 .15 1.00 .46 .41 AP 10 .68 .56 1.00 .61 .08 .94 1.00 1.00 .11 .42 1.00 .50 AP 12 .49 .42 .53 1.00 .20 .98 .99 1.00 .14 .45 .58 1.00 ..